SpaceX Cuts Starlink Speeds, Disrupting Ukraine Drone Missions — SkimNews
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- Ukraine accused SpaceX of imposing a 160 km/h speed cap on military-grade Starlink terminals without warning, disrupting interceptor-drone missions, per presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov
- Elon Musk said Starlink usage limits "are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," declining to confirm whether anyone ordered the cap
- Russia struck power plants in Kyiv and Kharkiv, leaving 600,000 without electricity — attacks Zelensky called "ostentatious disrespect" for Trump's energy ceasefire call
- Donald Trump urged Zelensky to stop striking Russian refineries and told Ukrainians to replace him, after lifting Russian diesel sanctions to curb US fuel prices
- Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski publicly confronted Musk on X: "Hey @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?" — Poland pays for Ukrainian Starlink subscriptions
- UK PM Andy Burnham announced £45 million ($59.6M USD) in surface-to-air missiles for Ukraine, including a fast-tracked £10 million package
Why it matters: The Starlink speed cap directly degrades Ukraine's ability to intercept Russian drones at a moment when it is already losing early-warning missile intelligence from the US, and Musk effectively confirmed Washington — not SpaceX — controls battlefield access. Poland is now publicly confronting Musk over weaponized access, and European rival Eutelsat saw its shares jump as investors bet a sovereign alternative becomes more urgent.
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