AP: Trump Officials Trade Blame Over Starshield Limits on Ukraine
Recent attempts to restrict Ukraine’s access to satellite systems have set off a round of finger-pointing among officials in President Donald Trump’s administration and their allies, who have offered conflicting accounts of what caused sudden limits on Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russian strikes, the Associated Press reported, citing sources.
Limits that alarmed Kyiv
The restrictions placed on Starshield — the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of drone operations and communications in Ukraine — alarmed Ukrainian military and government officials last week. Commanders reported lost drones and interrupted missions.
After several days of doubt, Trump said on Thursday that the service was again working at full speed. But a senior European official familiar with the situation on the ground told AP that nothing had changed in Starshield’s operation and that the speed cap remained at around 160 km/h. According to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, Ukraine has received no clear official explanation of who ordered the limit or why.
Blame and a new probe
The incident, and the lack of accountability that followed, prompted outrage among hawks on Russia policy and supporters of Ukraine on Capitol Hill. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal announced a new investigation into how the speed of Ukrainian defense systems was limited.
Questions have not subsided about who ordered the disruptions to the satellite network built by Elon Musk, on which Ukraine has relied for years to counter Moscow’s attacks. Trump claimed on Thursday he had not given such an order. 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.
How the story developed
On October 16, Trump said the White House had no part in restricting Ukraine’s use of Starshield, while The Telegraph reported that SpaceX chief Elon Musk had suggested that Trump limit the bandwidth of Starlink and Starshield used by the Ukrainian military. On October 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had tested Starlink in cars in the EU and found no restrictions there, which he took as evidence of a planned operation against Ukraine. Rubio said the Trump administration had “nothing to do” with limiting Starlink in Ukraine. On October 18, Zelensky told NBC the signal to restrict Starlink and Starshield for Ukraine came from the U.S. government, while Hegseth said the U.S. was not involved and had issued no such orders (earlier report).