Elon Musk has accused Ukraine’s military of violating Starlink’s terms of service by using the satellite internet system for offensive drone strikes, hours after Ukrainian officials said the service had returned to normal operating speeds following more than a week of restrictions.
“Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,” Musk said in a post on X. Ukrainian officials had not publicly responded to the allegation.
Correct.
Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be.
Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them.
Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.
Starlink remains critical to the defense of Ukraine, as it is the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now. Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact.
Starlink was also crucial to preventing Russia from overrunning Ukraine in the early days of the war, as all other means of communication were destroyed or jammed by Russia.
SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR.
That said, I have nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict. May you burn in hell.
End of story.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2026
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Starlink and its military version, Starshield, had resumed operating at the speeds required by Ukraine.
Restrictions capping speeds at 160 kph had disrupted military operations, affected efforts to intercept Russian attack drones and forced some missions to be cancelled.
Starlink is vital to communications along Ukraine’s front lines, while Starshield-enabled medium-range attack drones have supported Ukrainian advances.
Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range strikes on Russian territory, including attacks on oil refineries.
The restrictions also coincided with disruptions to allied warnings about incoming Russian missile attacks, although Kyiv later said it continued receiving US intelligence.
Neither Musk nor the US government has publicly accepted responsibility for the restrictions, with both suggesting the other may have ordered them.
Reuters reported that the order to throttle Starshield originated within the White House.
The dispute comes amid broader tensions over US policy towards the war. US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would “get it straightened out” if satellite-service problems continued, despite previously saying operations had been restored.
