Ukraine Loses Starlink Access as Musk Says Zelenskiy Went “Too Far”
SpaceX suddenly throttled access to Starlink with no warning, Ukraine says.
Is Elon Musk using SpaceX to kneecap Starlink access in Ukraine on behalf of President Donald Trump?
A Ukrainian military official claimed Wednesday that Musk’s SpaceX had interrupted functioning of the country’s military-grade Starlink terminals, Reuters reported. Presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian defense forces “did not receive warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions.”
The disruption comes just days after Trump publicly criticized Ukraine for continuing to attack Russian oil refineries in the wake of the U.S. lifting sanctions on the sale of Russian oil, and called for the removal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Musk weighed in on Trump’s comments on social media Saturday, writing: “Zelensky has gone too far.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, whose country pays for Ukraine’s Starlink access, responded to reports of the disruption.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you,” he wrote on X. Musk did not respond.
If the disruption really is some kind of political intervention, this is only further proof that Europeans—or really, anyone in the world—cannot rely on any of Musk’s products, as they will be at the whims of the billionaire technocrat that still finds himself at Trump’s beck and call.
In a last-ditch attempt to alleviate financial strain ahead of the midterm elections, the Trump administration announced last week that the U.S. would temporarily waive sanctions on Russian diesel sold to the global market through April 2027. Trump claimed that Russia would “immediately” supply more than roughly 2.2 million barrels of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace. (A small drop in the bucket, all things considered.)
The Trump administration is threatening to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Europe for Ukraine should Kyiv not halt its deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, multiple outlets reported Monday.
The State Department and the Pentagon made the warnings to officials in Ukraine and Europe over the weekend, with the U.S. military directly communicating the threat to Ukrainian commanders, CNN reported.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
The Financial Times was the first to report on the U.S. warning, which included threats to cut off the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List mechanism for buying American weapons for Ukraine. The initiative is managed by NATO and is used to procure U.S.-produced weapons to be sent to Kyiv.
“They are calling Kyiv … they are calling everyone [in Europe],” an official who received a call from a U.S. defense official told the outlet.
The warnings from Washington follow President Trump’s announcement late last week that the U.S. would purchase 300,000 tons of Russian diesel in an effort to lower fuel prices that have spiked as a result of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.
Trump, however, insists Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries have caused U.S. diesel prices to surge ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lambasted the diesel deal as providing the necessary funding to sustain Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On Sunday, Trump surprised Ukraine by announcing that it and Russia had agreed to what he described as an “energy ceasefire.”
Zelensky said at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland that Ukraine had learned of the deal through news reports.
He wrote on the social platform X that Ukraine supported the proposal but made it clear that Kyiv would not agree to stop its retaliatory strikes without a corresponding halt to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.
On Monday, Zelensky said Russia has continued to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including a power plant in Kharkiv.
Last night, while Russian ballistic missiles were landing on Kyiv for the second night in a row with zero American early warning, somebody at SpaceX reached over and turned a dial. Ukrainian drone crews watched their birds climb, stutter, and drop out of contact mid-mission. No notice. No explanation. No comment from the company. Ukraine’s defence forces woke up Wednesday to discover the backbone of their battlefield communications had been quietly throttled by the world’s richest man, four days after he posted that Zelensky “has gone too far,” and six days after Ukraine started burning down the Russian server farms that power the bot, crypto and disinformation economy his entire world runs on.
Garry Kasparov is the chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.
America dealt two grave betrayals to Ukraine in the past week. More are surely coming.
Last Friday, Donald Trump announced that the United States would again buy Russian diesel. When Volodymyr Zelenskyy protested, Trump said that Ukraine needed new leadership (what is it they say about glass houses?).
Today, Ukraine is facing new restrictions on Starshield, the military version of Starlink, introducing a serious new handicap to Kyiv’s battlefield capabilities. Notably, Elon Musk—no fan of Ukraine and Zelenskyy—was quick to suggest that it was Trump who cut off access.
We cannot overstate the seriousness of these transgressions. Trump and Zelenskyy have butted heads before. Now, the administration is preparing for the next step, outright labeling the Ukrainian president an enemy. If Trump has a stake in Russia’s hydrocarbon sector, the US will declare Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure—essential for Kyiv to level the playing field—as attacks on American interests.
(Trump, meanwhile, shows complete indifference when Russia attacks US properties in Ukraine. Of course, he’s never been held back by hypocrisy.)
Meanwhile Starlink provides essential satellite communications and information to Ukrainian forces. In 2025, Musk wrote on Twitter that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned [Starlink] off.” Perhaps Mr. Musk is a touch too proud of his own product. Still, his assessment is sadly not so far from the truth.
Trump is just a few weeks from a midterm election in which his Republican Party is expected to lose. Vladimir Putin is watching events from over Trump’s shoulder, and knows that a Democratic Congress could thwart many of his designs in Washington come January. These next three months are therefore critical.
People will look at this situation and ask whether the American president is a Russian asset. Here is my opinion: whether Trump is acting as Putin’s agent or merely an impressionable admirer is not relevant. The outcome would be the same, and the bottom line here is that this was coordinated between the White House and the Kremlin.
As I often say, I believe in coincidences, but I also believe in KGB.
And Elon Musk reveals his power to give and to take away:
Elon Musk Echoes Trump in Calling for New Ukrainian Leadership
In brief: American billionaire Elon Musk backed US President Donald Trump’s calls for Ukraine to replace President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying that the Ukrainian leader had “gone too far.” Musk’s comments came after Trump claimed Zelensky missed chances to end the war and criticized Ukrainian refinery strikes following a controversial bilateral diesel deal with Vladimir Putin. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made a sharp rebuttal, saying that only the Ukrainian electorate holds the legal and sovereign authority to determine national governance during wartime.
US President Donald Trump presents the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk during the “Golden Age of American Innovation Summit” at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, Oct. 8, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)
He’s Exhibit A on why billionaire wealth should be taxed, why we have to get big money out of politics, why billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to buy up major media, and why our government shouldn’t give them huge military contracts.
I’m talking about Elon Musk, of course.
Yesterday, former Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Musk for restoring his Starlink satellite’s vital high-speed connectivity: “Thank you, @elonmusk. We hope for your continued support.” (Connectivity had slowed after Musk posted Saturday that “Zelensky has gone too far.”)
But who gave Musk authority to slow his satellite service in the first place — or, for that matter, to publicly comment on Ukraine President Zelensky? (Musk says Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government, and that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” But if that’s the case, why did Fedorov thank Musk?)
Every time I list another of Musk’s outrages, someone says, “Yes, but he’s an innovator!”
He’s not. As is made clear in Alex Gibney’s smart new documentary, “Musk,” Elon didn’t invent Tesla. He didn’t invent X. He didn’t invent SpaceX. He didn’t invent Starlink satellites. He didn’t invent squat.
Musk is to innovation what Trump is to governing. Both are conmen. Both are megalomaniacs. Both love authoritarians and detest democracy. Both are racist and misogynistic. Neither believes in (or harbors an ounce of) empathy toward anyone. Both think nothing of corrupting governments for personal gain. Both say they’re self-made men — and both worship their creators.
Poland has always funded Starlink in Ukraine:
Starlink will continue to operate in Ukraine with Poland’s support
22 February 18:12
Poland continues to support the operation of Starlink terminals in Ukraine, providing uninterrupted internet access to hospitals, schools, critical infrastructure facilities, and frontline regions even during blackouts.
During the full-scale war, Poland has provided Ukraine with more than 29,000 terminals and is financially supporting their operation, which is an important contribution to the country’s resilience.
The Ukrainian authorities expressed their gratitude to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitalization of Poland, Krzysztof Haukowski, and the entire Polish government for their constant support, solidarity, and willingness to cooperate.
At the end of September, Polish President Karol Nawrocki signed a law extending funding for Starlink terminals in Ukraine. This decision will ensure uninterrupted communication for frontline communities and critical infrastructure when it is most needed.
It should be added that Starlink terminals from Elon Musk’s company play a key role in providing communications in Ukraine during the Russian aggression. However, they are used not only by Ukrainians but also by Russians on the front lines. Although Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has banned the use of Starlink in Russia, there are many intermediaries who buy terminals and send them to Russia.
Musk might have had the idea first, and might have thought it was an ingenious solution to a problem, but he is not the driver. He is the enabler of the US-Russia alliance.
And the timing was devastating. In the four evenings since the Starlink/Starshield limitations went into effect, the Russians have launched four massive, long-range attacks on Ukraine. By my count these have involved well over 1200 UAVs and missiles. Here is one source for each night.
So the alliance is operating, even if Trump is trying not to take responsibility. And it is having a real strategic and human effect. It has a real value to Putin, none at all to the USA, but that does not matter to the US government now, which is intent on weakening the USA wherever possible.
It is the most dishonorable deal in modern US history, and it is being written in Ukrainian blood
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
