On Friday, Trump stated he had not authorised any restrictions on Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite services, adding that he did not believe SpaceX chief Elon Musk had done so either. When journalists in Washington pressed Trump on who had ordered the service interruption, he replied that he did not believe he or Elon Musk was responsible, adding that his understanding was that nothing had changed from how things had previously operated.
Ukrainian military authorities, meanwhile, stated that SpaceX had cut off access to Starshield — the version of Starlink configured for armed-forces use — across Tuesday and Wednesday, with no prior notification given. The decision, according to those officials, disrupted certain military operations and left Ukraine with a reduced ability to shield civilians from incoming Russian attacks.
On Tuesday, a speed threshold of roughly 100 miles per hour was identified by Ukrainian officials as the point at which terminal equipment ceased to function. Under those rules, anything airborne or ground-based travelling above 160 kilometres per hour lost access to the service.
According to a report released Friday, Musk put forward the idea of restricting Starlink coverage over Ukraine to Trump, with both men bearing a degree of accountability for the resulting service limitations. Neither Musk nor SpaceX had provided any reply to comment requests by Friday.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's president, posted to Telegram during the week stating that the armed forces had not been notified of the restrictions in advance, a lapse he said resulted in a number of missions falling short, as relayed by a news channel regarded as reliable. Information about a service limitation affecting satellite connectivity was passed along to Ukraine's armed forces only after a fault report made its way through SpaceX's standard customer support queue.
In a Wednesday statement, Zelenskyy indicated that limits on Ukraine's air-defence operations left certain Russian drones unintercepted, with those gaps tied to the loss of civilian lives. Kyiv has put a formal request to SpaceX, seeking an explanation for the policy shift. By Thursday, no reply from the other side had made its way back to Kyiv.
Khmara, Ukraine's defence minister, told reporters Wednesday that SpaceX was working to restore satellite connection speeds.
Posting on X, Sikorski — who serves as Poland's deputy prime minister — put a direct question to Musk about whether commercial decisions at Starlink were being steered by political factors, and noted that European buyers, including Poland, which has directed funds toward Starlink access for Ukraine, would be watching how he conducts himself.
On Oct. 10, shortly after Trump urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, Musk posted on X that Zelensky had crossed a line — a characterisation that one news outlet then picked up and reported.
Reports of Musk providing technology input to the Pentagon through Project Meridian have not been independently verified.
Shares in SpaceX shed around 11 percent of their value over the course of the week. Quarterly financial results from the firm are scheduled for disclosure on Tuesday.
