SpaceX owner Elon Musk wrote on the social media platform X that the civilian Starlink system had never been authorised for use in drone attacks “with the aim of killing people”.
According to him, Ukraine had allegedly been using Starlink for such strikes, and this capability was restricted last week.
Musk also noted that “Starshield is a separate system under the control of the US government, and the decision on its use is taken by the US authorities”. At the same time, he emphasised the “key role” of the satellite network for Ukrainian forces.
“If Starlink were switched off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is not a threat, but simply a statement of fact,” the businessman said.
The founder of SpaceX pointed out that “the company has done more to defend Ukraine than any other private organisation in the world”.
According to volunteer Sergei Sternenko, a former freelance adviser to ex-Defence Minister Mikhail Fedorov, ‘whitelists’ for terminals have been in place in Ukraine since February. For satellite communications to work whilst on the move, the terminals had to be added to a special list and connected to the military Starshield system.
“In other words, technically speaking, it was impossible to use the civilian Starlink system specifically for drone operations,” explained Sternenko.
Sergei ‘Flash’ Beskrestnov, adviser to the President of Ukraine on defence technology development, also reported that, since February 2026, the speed at which Starlink terminals can move over Ukraine has been limited to 70–90 km/h, whilst the system does not operate over Russia. According to him, this rules out the use of commercial Starlink for medium- and long-range drone strikes.
The Ukrainian authorities and military have not yet officially commented on Elon Musk’s statements.
Starlink/Starshield operations in Ukraine have been restored to the speed they were at before the restrictions were introduced, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a new video address.
“The speed is now what we need. Restoration began last night, and by this morning the speed was already sufficient to use this connection. This is very important for our frontline logistics and for defending Ukraine against ‘Shahed’ missiles,” the head of state emphasised.
Earlier, Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara told Radio Free Europe that the speed of the Starshield satellite system had been restored.
“The Ministry of Defence’s monitoring systems are recording a restoration of Starlink/Starshield’s speed. We are observing speeds of over 400 km/h, and the connection is stable.”
Khmara described the restoration of satellite communications as yet another example of how “direct dialogue and the Ukrainian President’s firm stance” are yielding results that are vital for the Ukrainian military, drone operations, logistics and communications.
“The Ministry of Defence continues to monitor the operation of Starlink/Starshield and record its parameters,” he added.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield were still in place.
Earlier, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty sources within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, who were familiar with the situation but not authorised to comment on it officially, reported that on the morning of 23 October, instances of signal loss had been recorded at speeds of 161 km/h. At that time, there was no confirmation that the restrictions on Starshield — the military version of the Starlink service operated by the American company SpaceX — had been lifted.
The day before, The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that US President Donald Trump had spoken on the phone with SpaceX founder Elon Musk and urged him to lift the speed restrictions on Starshield.
According to the newspaper’s sources, shortly after the conversation between Trump and Musk on Thursday, the satellite connection began to operate more reliably. Journalists noted that the system had not yet returned to full functionality, but was already operating faster than under the previously imposed limit.
Disruptions to Starshield — the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink service, on which Ukraine relies heavily for protection against Russian air strikes — have left the country particularly vulnerable. These disruptions first came to light on 13–14 October.
Reports of restrictions on Starlink emerged against the backdrop of a statement by US President Donald Trump regarding an agreement with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to temporarily exempt Russian diesel fuel from sanctions and supply it to the global market. Trump also demanded that Ukraine cease its strikes on Russian oil refineries.