Elon Musk has admitted that SpaceX cut the speed of Ukraine's satellite link last week, the cap that grounded Ukrainian interceptor drones while Russia fired nearly 2,300 attack drones, 48 missiles and around 1,600 guided bombs at the country in seven days.
In posts on X on Saturday night and Sunday morning, Musk said the "Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week." He added, "We simply enforced our terms of service when they were bypassed."
The cap hit Starshield, the military version of the service, on 14 October without warning to Kyiv. Terminals dropped out at speeds above 160 km/h (100 mph), which made Ukraine's interceptor drones far less effective against Russia's jet-powered Shaheds and forced the cancellation of strikes on Russian forces in occupied Ukraine.
"We use Starlink to intercept jet-powered Shaheds that strike our civilians and kill our families," Zelenskyy said two days later. Full speed returned overnight into Saturday, after Donald Trump said Musk had been asked to "put it back".
