Washington — Elon Musk last week ordered a reduction in capacity for a military-grade variant of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network that Ukraine depends on for operations, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and individuals familiar with the matter.
Neither Musk, SpaceX, nor the White House responded immediately to Reuters requests for comment. Reuters has not independently verified the Journal’s reporting.
Ukrainian forces rely on Starlink for battlefield communications and drone operations. The service restriction impeded the country’s attack and air-defense drone missions against Russian forces.
According to the report, Musk and then-President Donald Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a phone call shortly after the slowdown became public, while Trump was campaigning. The two had also discussed the matter before the decision to throttle the service was made.
Reuters previously reported exclusively that the directive to limit the satellite system originated from within the White House.
Last week, Trump stated he did not believe either he or Musk was responsible for Ukraine losing Starlink access, while Musk maintained that any limitations on speed or usage were determined by the U.S. military or the president.
Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Washington have deteriorated sharply following Trump’s announcement of a deal to purchase Russian diesel fuel and his waiver of new sanctions on Moscow. Trump has also pressured Kyiv to cease attacks on Russian refineries and suggested Ukrainians should replace Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy, currently in Oslo seeking to repair ties with the United States, said Tuesday he discussed “the situation with Starlink/Starshield, which needs to be restored” with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that Washington had not revoked Ukraine’s ability to access Starlink’s satellite network, but indicated the issue centered on Kyiv’s compliance with terms of service.
