Elon Musk said Saturday that SpaceX throttled Starlink service in Ukraine, ending a week in which Washington and SpaceX pointed at each other over who limited the connection Kiev's drones depend on, the Associated Press reported. The admission came after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said access to Starlink and Starshield had been restored to its earlier speeds.
Musk replied "Correct" on X and wrote that "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," adding that Starshield, "a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them." The rest of the post, as AP quotes it: "Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week."
Correct.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2026
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... https://t.co/ZXBB8bYfPn
Neither Musk's post nor Hegseth's reference to terms of service names a specific violation.
