Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX restricted Ukraine’s Starlink internet service last week, accusing the country’s military of breaching its terms of service by using the civilian network for offensive drone attacks.
Musk’s comments came after Ukrainian officials reported that connectivity problems affecting their military operations appeared to have been resolved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed that the service had returned to the required performance levels.
The SpaceX chief, however, denied responsibility for a separate disruption involving Starshield, a more secure satellite communications system operated under the control of the United States government.
Although Kyiv has not officially responded to Musk’s latest allegations, Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov described the billionaire’s statement as “very strange”.
Musk had previously denied deliberately restricting Ukraine’s Starlink access, which Ukrainian officials said had hampered defensive operations for more than a week.
The disruption emerged amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
United States President Donald Trump later said he had instructed Musk to restore the service, although he had repeatedly denied directing the restriction.
In a post on X on Saturday, Musk said the use of Starlink for offensive military operations had never been permitted.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” he wrote.
“Ukraine’s military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”
Musk also defended SpaceX’s contribution to Ukraine’s war effort, saying the company had “done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth”.
He stressed that Starshield was a separate system controlled by the US government, adding, “What they decide to do is up to them.”
In another post, Musk explained that Starlink could support military infrastructure but should not be used for attacks that could prompt retaliatory strikes.
“Starlink can be used for infrastructure that is military, but it cannot be used for unequivocally offensive strikes that make it fair game to be struck back,” he wrote.
Beskrestnov challenged Musk’s claim, arguing that technical restrictions on Starlink terminals in Ukraine made them unsuitable for the long-range attacks described by the billionaire.
Writing on Telegram, the Ukrainian presidential adviser said terminals operating in the country had speed restrictions of between 70 and 90 kilometres per hour and did not function on Russian territory.
“Therefore, we physically cannot use commercial Starlink for deep strikes and medium-range strikes,” he said.
“It is very strange that Elon Musk is not aware of Starlink restrictions in Ukraine.”
Ukraine relies on both Starlink and Starshield for military communications, with the systems serving different operational needs. Both use networks of low Earth orbit satellites launched by SpaceX.
Starlink enables Ukrainian military units to coordinate operations, particularly in remote battlefield locations. Starshield, meanwhile, supports more specialised military activities, including allowing drone operators to monitor targets in real time and control interceptor drones.
Russia is not authorised to use Starlink. Ukrainian forces therefore cannot rely on the network for long-range attacks deep inside Russian territory, including strikes on oil refineries.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Yevhenii Khmara, said on Saturday that the military was recording a “stable connection” following the disruption.
He added that drones could now travel at speeds exceeding 400 kilometres per hour, compared with the previous restriction that Ukrainian officials said caused connections to fail above 161 kilometres per hour.
“The speeds are now where they need to be,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Musk did not explain why SpaceX had introduced the restrictions last week, despite Ukraine’s long-standing reliance on Starlink during the war.
The connectivity problems coincided with a diplomatic dispute between Zelensky and Trump over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil facilities.
Trump argued that the strikes had contributed to rising global oil prices. Kyiv, however, maintains that targeting Russian energy infrastructure is necessary to undermine Moscow’s principal sources of revenue for financing the war.
With US midterm elections approaching and domestic concerns growing over fuel prices, Trump waived some sanctions on Russia and reached an agreement with Moscow to supply Russian diesel to the United States and the global market. The arrangement drew criticism from European allies, who argued that it could help finance Russia’s war effort.
Zelensky initially agreed to halt attacks on Russian energy facilities on the condition that Moscow stopped targeting Ukraine’s own energy infrastructure. He later resumed the strikes after Russia repeatedly violated the arrangement, according to the report.
The Ukrainian president also alleged that Washington had threatened to withdraw intelligence-sharing support if Kyiv continued attacking Russian oil facilities. Trump denied making such a threat.
Meanwhile, fighting continued overnight, with both countries reporting attacks.
Ukraine’s emergency services said three people were killed and 15 others injured, including an 11-year-old girl, in attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk region in southeastern Ukraine.
Six more people were injured after a Russian drone struck an apartment building in the central city of Vinnytsia, the agency said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that its forces had attacked a cargo vessel allegedly transporting supplies for the Ukrainian military while it was travelling towards the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk.
The ministry also reported strikes on a logistics centre, a distribution centre and a logistics terminal in Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces had targeted a facility in the Russian city of Oryol operated by a heavy machinery manufacturer under sanctions. Russian authorities reported that three people were killed in the attack.
