Zelenskyy Blames U.S. for Starshield Disruptions — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Zelenskyy told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday he believes the U.S. government is behind Ukraine's loss of normal access to Starshield and Starlink, claiming SpaceX imposed restrictions in response to a 'message from [the] American government,' and warned that U.S. siding with Putin would be a 'historic mistake.'
- Elon Musk said on X that the U.S. government owns the system, stating 'any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.'
- President Trump denied interfering with Starshield on Friday ('I don't know if it was anybody because it wasn't me'), while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Zelenskyy's claims 'categorically false' and said no one at the White House ordered any slowdown.
- A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Defense Department's inspector general to investigate how the Starshield system was disrupted.
- Zelenskyy said U.S. intelligence sharing on Russian ballistic missile attacks was blocked for three days but has since resumed, and that Russia launched more than 4,000 strike drones, bombs and missiles against Ukraine in the past week.
- The dispute follows Trump's earlier move to ease U.S. sanctions on Russia and his criticism of Ukrainian refinery strikes — which he said were affecting U.S. diesel prices — telling Zelenskyy 'I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president.'
Why it matters: Ukraine's military relies on Starshield for drone strikes, intercepting Russian jets, and delivering supplies to front-line soldiers, per Zelenskyy. A bipartisan Senate inspector-general probe demand and a confirmed three-day intelligence-sharing pause show the dispute is now directly testing battlefield communications during Russia's record 4,000-plus weekly strikes.
Ask SkimNews
