WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday denied ordering restrictions on Ukraine’s military satellite connectivity after a sudden speed cap crippled Ukrainian defense drones during deadly Russian attacks.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before departing for Georgia, Trump disputed reports that his administration had instructed SpaceX to curb its Starshield network, a military-grade satellite service designed for the Pentagon. “I didn’t do that. No, we didn’t do that at all,” Trump said, adding, “It wasn’t me and I don’t think it was Elon.”
Confusion over who ordered the cap
Contradictory explanations have swirled around the disruption. Reuters reported Thursday that the directive originated inside the White House, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official. A congressional source later confirmed that account to the New York Post. Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk had proposed the slowdown to Trump, who then approved it.
Musk wrote on social media platform X earlier in the week that any limits on usage or speeds are determined by the American military and ultimately the president. However, an unnamed administration official told the New York Post that the White House issued no such directive, blaming “Pentagon freelancing.” The Pentagon has not commented publicly on the disruption.
The restriction cuts internet connectivity whenever a terminal travels faster than 100 mph, or 160 km/h. While civilian devices rarely exceed that velocity, Ukrainian interceptor drones and helicopters hunting Russian jet-powered Shahed drones regularly exceed the threshold. Because of the cap, those defensive aircraft abruptly lost network access mid-flight.
Front-line fallout in Ukraine
The operational consequences for Kyiv were immediate and severe. Ukrainian forces were caught off guard by the restriction, which disabled aerial counter-drone missions just as Russia launched heavy bombardments that knocked out power for roughly 600,000 people and damaged defense infrastructure, the BBC reported.
Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told The Associated Press that the unannounced cutoff led to the failure of multiple operations. Ukraine relies on Starshield to chase down Russian drones traveling well over 250 mph. While SpaceX resolved secondary communication blackouts that followed the change, the 100-mph limit remained in place, Beskrestnov said.
Beskrestnov stated that Ukrainian officials consider the move political rather than purely technical, though Starshield is not used inside Russian territory or for attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Strained relations and international fallout
The controversy erupts amid worsening friction between Washington and Kyiv. Relations soured following a recent U.S. deal involving Russian diesel imports, which drew sharp condemnation from Zelenskyy. After Trump unilaterally declared an energy ceasefire, Kyiv resumed strikes on Russian refineries, arguing Moscow had never agreed to halt attacks and continued bombing Ukrainian territory.
International allies and lawmakers have raised alarm over the disruptions. In Washington, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators signed a letter calling for an investigation, warning that the intervention degraded Ukraine’s ability to protect civilians. In Europe, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Radoslaw Sikorski publicly criticized Musk on X, asking if the billionaire was “playing politics” with vital defense services.
Beskrestnov said Ukrainian officials are currently negotiating with SpaceX, the Pentagon and the U.S. government to either lift the speed cap or transition to a costlier aviation package. In the meantime, Kyiv is exploring alternative satellite networks, including Europe’s Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon’s planned constellation, while monitoring advances in Russia’s own satellite technology.
