Elon Musk has said his company SpaceX itself throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, in a post on X on Saturday that ended more than a week of public denials and finger-pointing over who had slowed the system Kyiv's military relies on to defend itself against Russia, the Associated Press reported. "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," Musk wrote. "Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week."

Source: Associated Press via The Gazette, Oct 24, 2026

Musk maintained that Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink that is the backbone of Ukraine's drone operations and communications, is a different system controlled by the US government, and what Washington decides to do with it is up to it, according to his post as reported by AP and SFG Media. He also said Starlink remains critical to Ukraine's defence and that without it the Ukrainian front would collapse immediately — "not a threat, but a statement of fact", in the wording reported from his post — and ended with a message to "evil warmongers": "Burn in hell. End of story."

Source: SFG Media (WSJ / CBS News / AP reporting), Oct 24, 2026

The admission came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's access to Starlink and Starshield had been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted frontline operations for more than a week. "The speeds are now where they need to be," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that restoration began overnight and speeds were sufficient by Saturday morning, improving frontline logistics and defence against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara credited "direct dialogue" and Zelenskyy's diplomacy with Washington, AP reported.

Source: Associated Press via The Gazette, Oct 24, 2026

Until Saturday, neither SpaceX nor the US government had acknowledged responsibility for the restrictions, which began around October 14, alarmed Ukraine's military and led commanders to report lost drones and disrupted missions. President Donald Trump has maintained he did not make the call, while also saying Musk should not be blamed; Vice President JD Vance has hinted at White House coordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have denied any administration involvement, AP reported. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News had reported earlier that Musk himself made the decision, according to SFG Media's account of the reporting.

Source: SFG Media (WSJ / CBS News / AP reporting), Oct 24, 2026

Seeking Alpha also carried Musk's Saturday statement that Ukraine's military violated Starlink's terms of service by using the system for offensive drone strikes. The episode has added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington, already strained by Trump's reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal, AP noted.

Source: Seeking Alpha, Oct 24, 2026