Early on October 15, 2026, without warning, Ukraine's military version of SpaceX's Starlink service, called Starshield, began cutting the data connection on any terminal moving faster than 100 mph, which is common for Ukrainian drones, the AP reported. The restriction disrupted front-line operations and left Ukraine more exposed to Russia's jet-powered Shahed drones. An adviser to President Zelensky, Serhii Beskrestnov, said “this is not only a technical issue and not only a business issue, but also a political one,” and that Ukraine was negotiating with SpaceX and the Pentagon to lift the cap.
Reuters reported, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official, that “The order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House,” and that Defense Department leaders received a message that the service needed to be slowed. The officials did not say who in the White House made the decision. The Telegraph, citing four sources, reported that Elon Musk suggested the restriction to Trump and that Trump agreed; one source said, “The reality is that they were both in it.” Musk wrote on X that “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government.” All accounts of who ordered the cap rest on unnamed sources.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on October 17, “No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet,” and, “I'm not sure Zelenskyy knows what he's talking about,” adding that Ukraine has no access to Starshield at all, which the AP and Ukrainian officials contradict. The Pentagon did not answer the AP's questions and SpaceX did not respond to Reuters. The cap came days after Trump's diesel deal with Putin and as he waived the Graham Act's Russia sanctions (see Trump Lifts Sanctions on Russian Diesel After a Call With Putin, and Senators From Both Parties Say It Breaks a 2022 Law and Trump Waives the Russia Sanctions Law He Signed a Month Earlier, Two Days Before It Took Effect).
Update (October 19, 2026): Rubio said on October 17, “nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down. It sort of happened, but my understanding is it's been restored. It's back to where it was before,” according to the State Department transcript; Zelensky said on October 18 that service was not fully restored, NPR reported. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Cornyn joined Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's October 15 letter asking the Pentagon inspector general to investigate. Rep. Mike Turner said, “There needs to be an investigation, we need to find out who these people are because lives are at risk and lives are lost over these things,” while Sen. Kevin Cramer said, “It may very well have been some sort of a technical glitch.” Asked three times on NBC whether Ukraine is an ally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “I'm not the secretary of state. I'm not the president.”
Update (October 21, 2026): the Wall Street Journal reported on October 20, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter, that Musk ordered the slowdown; CBS News independently reported that “A decision by Elon Musk led to restrictions,” and that “Musk held multiple conversations with administration officials leading up to the order” because “He wanted clarity on the president's thinking.” Some officials told the Journal they believed Musk acted on his own, while others said he spoke with senior officials, including Trump, before or after, according to outlets that re-reported the story, among them CNBC and Deutsche Welle. That conflicts with Reuters' earlier report that the order came from inside the White House; all of these accounts rest on unnamed sources. Musk had written that limits on the service are decided by the U.S. military “and ultimately POTUS.” Trump said on October 19, “I don't know who it was, but I'd like to find out.”
Rubio said on October 21 that “the President has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk. That's a private company,” and, “What I can tell you with certainty is the President of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made.” In the same remarks he described Starshield as “sold and operated through the Department of War.”
Update (October 22, 2026): asked on October 21 who ordered the slowdown, Trump said, “I wasn't involved,” and, “I don't know who did it, but I was not involved,” CNBC reported; on October 16 he had said, “it wasn't me. And I don't think it was Elon,” according to the Roll Call Factbase transcript. Hegseth said on October 20, “We haven't pulled anything back. There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to, and that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions.” Rubio said, “I have not seen The Wall Street Journal reporting because I have not read it.” The White House told Ars Technica, “we didn't slow down Starlink at all, and the service is currently operational,” while a Ukrainian official told RFE/RL, “Speed restrictions have not been lifted.” Sens. Adam Schiff, Ruben Gallego, Chris Coons and Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation of Musk, The Hill reported, as did Reps. Ami Bera and Brian Fitzpatrick, RFE/RL reported. Musk posted, “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” Fox Business reported.
Update (October 23, 2026): The Wall Street Journal reported on October 22, citing U.S. officials, that Trump had phoned Musk and asked him to ease the restrictions, and that Starshield was “working more normally Thursday, shortly after” the call, CNBC reported. Trump would not say whether he made the call: “Whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference,” he told reporters, adding of Musk, “The bottom line, he put it back.” Kyiv disputed that anything had changed. A Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent the reports were “all false” and that the 161 km/h cap remained; Ukrainian defense ministry sources told the BBC there was “currently no confirmation that these restrictions have been lifted.” On October 23 Trump said, “I have not spoken to him,” and, “I've heard it was fixed. But if it's not, I'll fix it” (corrected October 27; see the correction below). Sen. Richard Blumenthal opened an inquiry on October 22 into how the service was “degraded for Ukraine without notice,” and Sen. John Cornyn said he did not believe Musk would throttle the service without “at least the acquiescence of the White House.”
Update (October 27, 2026): Ukraine said on October 24 that Starshield speeds had been restored. “The speeds are now where they need to be,” Zelensky wrote on X, according to the AP, and Ukraine's Defense Ministry said connections were stable at speeds over 400 km/h, CNBC reported. The same day, in posts on X quoted by the New York Post, Musk wrote, “Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,” and, “Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them.”
The AP reported the posts as Musk's acknowledgment that SpaceX had throttled the service. They do not say who set the limits on Starshield, and Musk did not say whether Trump, Hegseth or another official authorized the restriction, Fox News noted. On October 25 Zelensky's adviser Serhii Beskrestnov disputed Musk's claim: “It's very strange that Elon Musk doesn't know about the restrictions on Starlink's operation in Ukraine.” He said drones run on civilian Starlink are limited to 70 to 90 km/h inside Ukraine and do not work in Russia, so “we physically cannot use commercial Starlink for deep strikes or medium-range strikes,” the AP reported.
Trump told reporters on October 24 that he had spoken to Musk, CNBC and Fox News reported, but he would not elaborate; in the Roll Call Factbase transcript, asked whether he had spoken to Musk about Ukraine and then whether he could say more, he answers, “No, I can't.” No White House response to Musk's posts had been reported when this was written.
Correction (October 27, 2026): the October 23 update quoted Trump as ending, “if it's not, I'll speak to him.” The Roll Call Factbase transcript of his remarks before boarding Marine One that day reads, “But if it's not, I'll fix it.” The quotation has been corrected above.
Update (October 30, 2026): The Pentagon's inspector general declined to open an investigation. In a letter dated October 27 to the nine senators who had asked for one, Inspector General Platte Moring said their questions should be directed to the Air Force and Space Force. “They are better suited to address the matters raised in your letter and to coordinate any Department responses to your questions,” he wrote, according to CNN, which said the AP first reported the letter. Ars Technica also reported the letter.
Mollie Halpern, spokesperson for the inspector general's office, said it “carefully considered the congressional request and determined that the matters raised were best addressed by the Department,” and, “Should new information come to light, we may reconsider,” CNN reported. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said on October 28, “It is concerning that the inspector general has apparently decided not to investigate satellite communication disruptions that Ukraine relies on to protect its civilians,” and urged the inspector general “to conduct a full investigation.”