Ukraine accused SpaceX of quietly capping Starlink speeds during Russian strikes, and Elon Musk replied that the US government decides those limits.
What they're saying: "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," Musk wrote on X on Wednesday.
Zoom in: Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on defense technology, said SpaceX applied a speed limit to Starlink terminals in motion with no notice to Ukraine's defense forces, and that the same restriction reached Starshield.
- The cap was set at 100mph, or 160km/h, so any weapon travelling faster than that lost connectivity, per the BBC.
The backstory: Starlink runs Ukraine's interceptor drones, which Beskrestnov called the most effective solution against Russia's Shahed drones. Starshield is the military grade sister network and sits under US government control, Musk said.
What's next: Some restrictions appear to have been partly lifted. Former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Musk early Thursday for restoring connectivity at speeds up to 160 kilometers an hour, and asked for the Starshield cap to be removed entirely.
Between the lines: The friction sits inside a wider rift. Washington has threatened to cut intelligence sharing with Kyiv, Reuters reported, and Ukrainian officials said they went two straight days with no warnings of Russian attacks.
The other side: Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities for the rise in diesel prices, and Kyiv has welcomed his announced energy ceasefire subject to Moscow honoring its commitments.
- Zelenskyy accused Russia of breaching that ceasefire on Monday, per CNBC.
Why it matters: One company's throttle setting now shapes what a country at war can fly, and this week both Kyiv and Washington confirmed in public that the dial exists.
