Recent efforts to restrict Ukraine’s access to satellite systems have created a a kind of blame game among Trump administration officials and their allies, who have delivered mixed messages about what led to the sudden restrictions on Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russian strikes.
THE limitations imposed on Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade version of Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of drone operations in Ukraine and communication – alarmed the country’s military and government officials last week, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. After days of anxiety, President Donald Trump said Thursday that the service was operating at full capacity again.
However, restrictions were still in place, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday in a remote speech to the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.
This episode and the resulting lack of accountability sent shockwaves among Russia hawks and Ukraine’s allies on Capitol Hill. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal announced a new investigation into the slowdown in technologies used in Ukraine’s defense systems.
Questions have been brewing since last week about who ordered the shutdowns of the Elon Musk-created satellite internet system that Ukraine has relied on for years to counter attacks from Moscow.
Trump, as recently as Thursday, claimed he had not made that decision. Vice President JD Vance hinted at White House coordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied any administration involvement.
Musk — one of the Republican Party’s biggest donors and a Trump ally — indicated that because Ukraine was using the military version of its technology, questions about the service should be directed to the Pentagon.
Here are the players in their own words:
President Donald Trump
Over the past week, Trump has repeatedly told reporters that he did not order restrictions on a satellite communications system used by the Ukrainian military, which would have caused its drones to lose speed.
The president had also earlier doubted whether the disruption came from Musk, a former close adviser and frequent companion.
“Well, I don’t know if it was anyone, but it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump said Friday. “And from what I understand, that’s how it’s always been.”
On Thursday, Trump appeared to confirm that the service was down and claimed it was running at optimal speeds again. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had agreed to lift the restrictions, and Trump hesitated when asked if he had asked to lift the cap.
“You know, whether I call or someone else calls, it makes no difference,” Trump told reporters. “I guess in the end he handed it over.”
Vice President JD Vance
In Cincinnati on Thursday, Vance was asked about Musk’s involvement in the slowdown of Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine and whether it warranted an investigation.
“I think fundamentally Elon Musk runs a private company,” Vance told reporters. “And I think it’s completely understandable that he wouldn’t want to find himself in the middle of what is a war between two state actors without the U.S. government giving him effective direction on what he should do.”
Vance continued: “So I don’t think it’s about Elon. I think it’s fundamentally about what America’s policy will be in Ukraine and Russia.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Rubio insisted that the Trump administration and the U.S. government more broadly had nothing to do with interruptions to Ukraine’s access to crucial satellite data.
Speaking to reporters in India on Wednesday, Rubio said for the third time in four days that any limitation of network access in Ukraine was not directed or ordered by Trump or anyone in his administration. He did, however, suggest that the system’s owner – Musk – may have been involved.
“What I can tell you with certainty is that the president of the United States and no one in our system has ever asked for any changes to be made to this system, and that’s what we’ve said repeatedly,” Rubio said. “The president has nothing to do with the decisions made by Starlink, Starshield and by Mr. Musk. This is a private company. The president does not run this company and cannot ask it to do anything.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
Hegseth echoed Rubio’s comments, denying on Tuesday any U.S. role in slowing satellite internet service while placing blame on Musk’s company.
“We haven’t taken anything away,” Hegseth told reporters, before adding that “there are conditions of service that ultimately have to be respected.”
He gave no details on the terms of service Ukraine had to meet, but said “Starlink has the ability to make those decisions.”
SpaceX chief Elon Musk
Muskthe world’s richest man and head of the company behind Starlink and Starshield, handed responsibility to the Trump administration last week.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any limits on speed or use are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS,” he said. wrote on October 14 on X.
“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Use of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as this would be inappropriate for a commercial enterprise,” Musk added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Wartime president works to roll back restrictions imposed without warning last week.
Shortly after the system’s failure, Zelensky said that there were no similar restrictions in European Union countries and that they only applied to Ukraine. “In other words, this is a planned operation,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke to a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Monday, saying in a video of the briefing posted on social media that “we are still facing speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front, and we still have no explanation for that. Just different strange stories.”
Zelenskyy said he spoke this week with Rubio, who told him that Starshield and Starlink service would be fully restored within 48 to 72 hours.
But the limits on “Starlink and Starshield are still there and this has not been restored,” the Ukrainian president said on Friday. Ukraine has carried out repeated checks and faces the same speed limit of around 100 mph (160 km/h), he said.
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Amiri reported from New York and Arhirova from kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Seung Min Kim, Konstantin Toropin, Matthew Lee and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
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