Ukraine accuses Musk of false claims over Starlink

Ukraine has rejected Elon Musk’s claim that its military broke Starlink’s terms of service by using the civilian satellite network for offensive drone strikes, with a presidential adviser saying that restrictions SpaceX placed on the service in February make such use physically impossible.

Musk made the accusation on X on Oct. 24, the same day Ukraine said its satellite access had been restored after more than a week of speed restrictions that disrupted front-line operations.

“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” wrote SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”

In the same post, Musk said Starshield, SpaceX’s military-grade version of the network, “is controlled by the US government,” and that Starlink remains critical to Ukraine’s defense because it is “the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now.” He wrote that Ukraine’s front line “would collapse immediately” if Starlink were turned off, said SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth, and closed by telling people he called warmongers, “May you burn in hell.”

Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky on defense technology, responded that Musk’s claim ignores how Starlink actually works in Ukraine. Since February 2026, he said, every Starlink terminal over Ukrainian territory, including occupied areas, has been capped at movement speeds of 70 to 90 km/h (43 to 56 mph), and Starlink does not work over Russia at all.

“It is very strange that Elon Musk does not know about the restrictions on Starlink’s operation in Ukraine,” said Beskrestnov. “Thus, we physically cannot use commercial Starlink for deep strikes and middle strikes.”

A terminal capped at road speeds cannot stay connected aboard an attack drone, and the long-range strikes Musk referred to take place over Russian territory, where the service is switched off.

Serhii Sternenko, who worked on the issue at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense as an adviser to Mykhailo Fedorov, said the system Ukraine built in February left no room for the misuse Musk described. Stationary terminals could be registered by both military personnel and civilians, but any terminal used on the move had to be placed on a special list and connected to Starshield.

“In other words, using civilian Starlink for drone missions was technically impossible. All drone missions that required satellite communication could only be carried out using Starshield,” wrote Sternenko.

“We are very grateful to the United States and SpaceX for access to critically important satellite communications. Ukraine did not violate the terms of use,” wrote Sternenko.

Musk’s Oct. 24 post differs from what he said 10 days earlier. On Oct. 14, as speed limits disrupted Ukrainian drone operations, Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on X that Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h (99 mph) was being restored and that removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely had become critical for Ukraine’s defense. Musk replied the same day that the limits were not SpaceX’s decision.

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” wrote Musk on Oct. 14. “Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.”

President Donald Trump has said he did not order the restrictions. CBS News and The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Musk was behind the slowdown, and his Oct. 24 post was the first time he said SpaceX had closed what he called a loophole.

Ukrainian commanders said the restrictions cost them drones and disrupted missions. Starshield has become the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and battlefield communications, including the interceptor drones used against Russian attack drones. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Oct. 24 that full use had been restored, with its monitoring systems recording stable connections on objects moving faster than 400 km/h (250 mph).