SpaceX Cut Starlink to Ukraine Drones; Musk Blamed US Military — SkimNews
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- SpaceX restricted Starlink services to military-grade terminals in Ukraine on Wednesday without warning, disrupting both attack and air-defence drone missions, according to presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov.
- Elon Musk said on X that 'any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,' deflecting responsibility for the cutoff onto Washington.
- Zelensky called the move 'a big mistake' that will bring 'a lot of human losses,' and said from London that Russia is exploiting the Starlink problems to boost its own interceptor-drone operations.
- SpaceX imposed a 160 km/h speed cap on moving terminals, but a Ukrainian Defence Ministry source told Reuters that military units were losing guidance connections at less than half that speed.
- Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski publicly confronted Musk on X: 'Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?' — Poland pays for Ukraine's Starlink subscriptions on Kyiv's behalf.
- Eutelsat shares jumped Wednesday as investors bet the European satellite operator could capitalize on mounting strains between Washington and Kyiv over battlefield connectivity.
- Russia struck four power plants around Kyiv and two in Kharkiv overnight, leaving about 600,000 people without power; Zelensky called the attacks 'ostentatious disrespect' toward Trump's claimed energy ceasefire.
Why it matters: Musk's claim that the US military — and ultimately the president — controls Starlink usage puts the throttle squarely inside the Trump White House, blurring the line between a private company and US war policy. Poland's public dressing-down of Musk signals that even paying European allies are losing patience, while Eutelsat's stock pop shows investors already pricing in a European alternative if the disconnect deepens.
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