‘Badly Limited’ – Foreign Policy – World Brief

A Starlink device that connects a Ukrainian brigade to the internet is seen in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, on Feb. 9, 2025. Pierre Crom/Getty Images

Ukraine on Wednesday said that Elon [Musk]’s SpaceX had abruptly limited the country’s access to its military-grade Starlink internet services without warning, undermining the country’s security. The Wall Street Journal reported that the new limits “restrict the speed at which some of Ukraine’s weapons can travel and still connect to the internet.” It is unclear why the restrictions were imposed now or when they might be lifted. However, the timing is likely to be damaging for Kyiv, which is preparing for a brutal winter defined by Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Just two days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, SpaceX activated Starlink in Kyiv and shipped its first terminals to the country. Despite SpaceX periodically restricting Ukraine’s access to its services, Kyiv has since come to rely on Starshield, a military-grade version of Starlink paid for by the U.S. Defense Department, to intercept Russian drone strikes and launch midrange attacks on Moscow.

According to senior Ukrainian officials and military personnel, signal failures early Wednesday disrupted several ongoing missions. “Logistics at the frontline and middle strikes are badly limited,” one senior official told the Financial Times. Ukrainian defense ministry advisor Serhii Beskrestnov stressed that long-range drone operations were also impacted.

Experts suspect that Wednesday’s limitations may have been ordered by the Pentagon, not SpaceX—a notion that Musk appeared to confirm later in the day. “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk wrote on X, using an acronym for the U.S. president. His statement came in response to an X post from former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who stated that some connectivity had been restored and had asked Musk to remove the speed limit entirely.

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