Dispute over Starlink limits in Ukraine: Trump, Musk and Kyiv trade blame
US President Donald Trump says Ukraine's access to SpaceX's military Starshield service is back at full speed, but Ukrainian and European officials deny it. It remains unclear who imposed the restrictions.
Ukrainian officials say access to Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade version of the Starlink satellite service, has been limited over the past week. A dispute has erupted between the Trump administration, Kyiv and SpaceX chief Elon Musk over who is responsible. Ukraine says the limits left many drones used to strike behind the front lines inoperable and hampered air defence systems.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the service was running again at full speed. A European official told the Associated Press this was not the case, while a Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that speeds were still capped and that nothing had changed.
Who is to blame
Trump earlier denied that he or Musk was involved. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said neither the president nor anyone in the administration had requested changes, adding that Starlink and Starshield belong to a private company the president cannot direct. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump asked Musk to restore the service; the president later said: "I guess the bottom line, he put it back."
Musk wrote on X that the systems were owned and controlled by the US government, and that any limits on speed or usage were decided by the US military and ultimately the president. The Wall Street Journal also cited sources saying Musk himself ordered the slowdown, though they disagreed on whether this was coordinated with Trump. Vice-president JD Vance said Musk does not want to get in the middle of a war between two states without direction from the US government.
Other developments
Austria has expelled four more Russian diplomats suspected of spying. Three worked at the Russian embassy and one at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Austria has expelled 18 Russian diplomats since 2020.
In overnight attacks, Russia targeted energy sites in six Ukrainian regions, according to Kyiv. More than 500,000 people are without power.
