Zelensky doubts Musk ‘acted alone’ in Ukraine Starlink slowdown

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed doubt that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could have acted alone in the Starlink slowdown last month, which impacted Ukraine’s military capabilities.

“I’m not sure that he [Musk] can do it with Starshield because it’s military. It’s government version,” Zelensky said during an interview with PBS News . “I’m not sure that he could do it personally alone, without any representatives from American government.”

“But I don’t know who from American side from the government did it, who allowed him. I think it was a dialogue between some people, and in — during this dialogue, the decision was negative for us,” Zelensky added.

The slowdown restricted Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the military version of Starlink, and targeted Starlink-supported Ukrainian military drones, airplanes and helicopters traveling faster than 100 mph.

Musk initially claimed that the choice to restrict the speed or usage of Starshield is made by the U.S. military and, ultimately, the president.

He later alluded to being involved in the decision in a post on social media, writing, “Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”

Ukraine has used Starlink’s commercial services since the beginning of its war with Russia. It later added Starshield through SpaceX’s contract with the Pentagon. Musk in his post said Starlink is “critical to the defense of Ukraine.”

Zelensky during his interview also acknowledged that he is “very thankful” for Starlink and said he wanted to speak with Musk after the slowdown incident. He also said if restrictions were to be lifted, Ukraine would use Starshield “in Russia just to find the points where ballistic launchers are.”

Musk argued in his post last month that using the commercial service “for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be.”

Officials from the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have said earlier that the White House did not have anything to do with the slowdown.

“The bottom line is that that is governed by a private commercial contract as to how their stuff can be used and what speeds they’ll allow it to be used at,” Rubio told reporters in October.