Ukraine says its military satellite link was throttled during the Russian barrage, and Musk points to Washington

In the middle of the second straight night of Russian missile attacks, Ukraine says one of the tools its forces depend on most suddenly slowed down, and by Wednesday afternoon the argument over who slowed it had reached the president of the United States.

Ukrainian officials said Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite service, was throttled overnight, with connectivity dropping for drones traveling at speeds of 160 kilometers per hour or more. Ukraine relies on the service for drone operations and logistics. Officials said the slowdown undermined multiple active operations during a barrage that President Volodymyr Zelensky said involved 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and left at least 600,000 people without power as of Wednesday. European officials initially blamed Elon Musk and SpaceX. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski asked Musk publicly on Wednesday whether he was playing politics with his products again.

Musk answered that the system is not his to throttle. He said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the United States government, and that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the American military and ultimately by the president. He added that the commercial Starlink service is limited to civilian or defensive activities. Zelensky warned that the slowdown would cost lives by limiting Ukraine's ability to fight off Russian attacks.

By 2 p.m. Eastern, Ukraine's defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, announced that connectivity at speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour was being restored, thanked Musk, and said removing the speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine's defense. What has not been established is who ordered the limit, or whether it was a deliberate decision at all: Ukrainian officials themselves described being told it was a glitch, and the White House has not confirmed a policy change. The episode landed on the same day Zelensky, in London, accused Washington of betraying Ukraine with its Russian diesel deal, and it shows how much of Ukraine's war effort now runs through systems it does not control.