KYIV – Ukrainian officials have rejected Elon Musk’s accusation that the country’s military breached Starlink’s terms of service by using the civilian satellite network to conduct offensive drone attacks.
Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Starlink has been subject to restrictions in Ukraine for years—rules that, he argued, would have prevented the alleged use.
“It’s very strange that Elon Musk doesn’t know about the restrictions on Starlink’s operation in Ukraine,” Beskrestnov wrote in an online post.
SpaceX’s Starlink network and its military-oriented Starshield service have become essential to Ukraine’s communications and battlefield operations. Earlier this month, Ukrainian drones linked to Starshield lost connectivity while traveling at high speeds, hampering air defenses as Russia carried out daily attacks. Officials said the so-called speed limits were removed Saturday and that service had been restored.
The disruption nevertheless fueled continuing questions over who authorized the interruptions to the satellite network Kyiv has depended on for years in its fight against Russia.
Musk confirmed Saturday that SpaceX had restricted Starlink service in Ukraine.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” Musk wrote. He said Ukraine’s military had violated the service’s terms by using it for such attacks and that SpaceX had closed the resulting loophole the previous week.
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Musk said, however, that any changes involving Starshield—the military-grade system that supports much of Ukraine’s drone activity and communications—were under the control of the U.S. government. President Donald Trump has denied ordering the move, while Vice President JD Vance has suggested the White House coordinated with Musk.
The Starshield restrictions imposed last week alarmed Ukraine’s government and military. Commanders reported losing drones and seeing missions disrupted, while the episode further strained relations between Kyiv and Washington. Those tensions had already worsened after Trump reportedly reached a deal with Moscow to import Russian diesel—a move Ukraine viewed as a betrayal.
Starlink service was restored as the United States launched a renewed diplomatic effort to end the war. Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way talks with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also accepted a limited ceasefire around Oleshky, a heavily damaged Russian-occupied town in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, in an arrangement brokered by first lady Melania Trump.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia had sent nearly 2,300 drones toward Ukrainian cities over the past week. He again urged Western allies to accelerate deliveries of air-defense interceptors.
“This week alone, Russia has launched about 1,600 guided bombs, 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, and almost 2,300 strike drones at Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote online.
He said the attacks, many of them fatal, had hit nine regions and damaged power stations, grain warehouses, homes and commercial properties.
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