Amid Ukraine uproar, Musk says decisions to restrict Starshield up to president

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday said decisions to restrict the speed or usage of Starlink’s Starshield are made by the U.S. military and, ultimately, the president, as confusion swirls over Ukraine’s loss of military access to the systems.

It is not clear at this point what caused Ukraine’s military to lose access to Starshield, Starlink’s military system, which is owned and controlled by the U.S. government.

“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk wrote in a comment on the social platform X, which he owns.

“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. 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,” Musk said.

A source familiar with the matter told The Hill on Wednesday that Starlink services were cut off for objects that traveled more than 100 miles an hour, impacting the capabilities of Ukraine’s drones, airplanes and helicopters.

Ukraine’s defense minister said on Wednesday afternoon that SpaceX was working to restore satellite speeds.

Following the loss of access Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the slowdown of the Starlink service was a “ big mistake .”

“People will die, of course, if attacks will continue and if Starlink will not work. … It’s not helpful,” he said, suggesting it was “maybe a huge technical problem” at SpaceX.

The slowdown sparked a barrage of questions and concerns online. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called on Musk in a social media post to explain the incident, writing, “please tell me these overnight disruptions to Starlink terminals in Ukraine were unintended — that @SpaceX is doing everything it can to fix a temporary glitch.”

“I’m confident this does not reflect a change in SpaceX policy because if so, intentionally degrading Ukraine’s ability to defend itself might be construed as aiding and abetting a mass murderer,” Tillis wrote on social media . “Can you confirm that’s not SpaceX’s intent?”

Earlier this week, the Trump administration threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Europe for Ukraine if Kyiv does not stop its deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. In a surprise deal, President Trump also agreed to allow Russia to export diesel to the U.S., prompting quick backlash from some Republican lawmakers.