President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian authorities consider the restrictions on the operation of “Starlink” and its military version — “Starshield” — to be a consequence of the decision of the US government.
He said this on NBC Newsʼ Meet the Press program.
According to Zelensky, a signal came from the US government to restrict the operation of services, after which “SpaceX” technically did so.
"This is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of our generals and the government. We believe that this was an instruction from the American government, and ʼSpaceXʼ technically fulfilled it," Zelensky said.
He noted that he did not know who specifically made the decision. According to the president, the “Starshield” restrictions still remain, while the exchange of American intelligence, which was previously suspended for a while, has already been resumed.
At the same time, the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on the same NBC News program that no one in the US presidential administration ordered restrictions on “Starlink” for Ukraine. He noted that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already spoken about this.
Bessent called Zelenskyʼs statement "very reckless" and urged him to be careful with statements that, as he said, are not true.
When asked what explains the interruptions and reduction in “Starlink” speed, Bessent did not give a specific answer.
He was also asked about the pause in US intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Bessent said he was unaware of any such thing.
What preceded
On October 11, the US President Donald Trump reported an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. On October 12, Axios reported that Trump meant a halt to mutual strikes on refineries. On the same day, FT reported that the US was threatening to block arms sales to Ukraine and intelligence sharing over its strikes on Russian refineries.
Ukraine agreed and did not attack Russian oil refining until October 15. Instead, on October 12, the Russian Federation attacked six Ukrainian energy facilities in one day, and on the night of October 14, the Russians struck all three thermal power plants in Kyiv.
In both cases, Ukraine did not receive warnings from its partners about planned ballistic strikes. Ukraine usually receives such warnings from the US. At the same time, Donald Trump himself denied that the US had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
In addition, on the night of October 14, “SpaceX” without warning restricted the operation of “Starshield” terminals, the military version of “Starlink” satellite communications. The “SpaceX” founder Elon Musk said that the “Starshield” systems are controlled by the US government, so their use is determined by the US military, and the final decision is made by the president. The White House called the “Starshield” restrictions in Ukraine a “technical malfunction”.
On October 15, Babelʼs sources in the Ministry of Defense reported that the work of “Starshield” in motion has already been restored and is ongoing. At the same time, Volodymyr Zelensky noted the next day that the networkʼs work has not yet been fully restored. He separately noted that due to speed restrictions, Ukraine has lost the ability to shoot down “Shahed” jets.
Axios wrote on October 17 that Elon Musk proposed limiting the speed of “Starlink” for Ukraine, and Donald Trump agreed.
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