Musk admits restricting Starlink in Ukraine; Zelensky says network works as before

SpaceX chief Elon Musk has publicly admitted for the first time that the company restricted the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine. In a post on X on Saturday 24 October 2026, he said the reason was that the Ukrainian military had breached the service's terms. The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the network was working as it did before the limits were introduced.

What Musk says

According to Musk's post, Ukraine's armed forces were using Starlink in breach of its terms of service, including for offensive drone attacks. The billionaire also wrote that the loophole allowing such use was closed last week. He stressed that Starshield, the military version of Starlink, remains under the control of the US government.

Musk added that his company's network is crucial to Ukraine's defence. In his words, if Starlink were switched off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. He stressed that this was not a threat, just a statement of fact.

How it unfolded

The problems came to light in recent days. Ukrainian soldiers and experts reported that the network had stopped working properly for objects moving faster than 160 km/h, limiting capabilities such as countering Russian drones. Ukraine uses both commercial Starlink and Starshield.

On Tuesday 20 October, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had personally ordered Starshield to be restricted. Musk himself had earlier argued that decisions on limits rested with the Pentagon and ultimately the US president. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the department had not withdrawn anything, and that Starlink was entitled to set the terms of its service.

On Thursday 22 October, the WSJ reported that Donald Trump had phoned Musk to ask him to lift the restrictions. Trump initially did not confirm the reports, but on Saturday he acknowledged that he had spoken to Musk about restoring full functionality of Starlink and Starshield. As late as 23 October, Ukrainian sources cited by Ukrinform and Rzeczpospolita said the limits were still in place. Only on Saturday did Zelensky confirm that the network was working as before the restrictions.

What next

It is unclear whether the restrictions could return. The two sides present the matter differently: Musk speaks of a breach of the terms, while the Ukrainian side points to a loss of combat capability because of the speed limit.