US lawmakers urge letting Ukraine use Starlink for strikes on Russia
US Representative Joe Wilson and more than two dozen of his colleagues have prepared a letter calling for Ukraine to be allowed to use the Starlink satellite communications system to hit launch sites on Russian territory, Wilson said on Thursday, 22 October, on X.
Wilson said he led the effort together with nearly two dozen other members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. The lawmakers want Kyiv to be able to use Starlink to target the sites from which Russia launches its attacks.
"Ukraine must be able to defend itself, its people and the West! The best way is to destroy Russia's ability to carry out its terrorist attacks," Wilson wrote.
Background: limits on Starlink in Ukraine
The letter follows reports about restrictions on the satellite service that Ukrainian forces rely on. According to The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk ordered the speed of the military version of Starlink for Ukraine to be reduced, leaving some Ukrainian strike drones and interceptor drones practically unusable.
It was reported earlier that the order to limit the Starshield satellite system, which Ukraine uses for battlefield communications and drone control, came from the White House. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the US decision to introduce limits on Starlink for Ukraine was a mistake that would cost lives.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis is also launching an inquiry into the Pentagon's role in the satellite communications problems that Ukrainian troops have faced.
More coverage of the war and Western support is in our World section.