Who ordered Starlink, Starshield slowdown in Ukraine? What we know

On Oct. 14, Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on Facebook (archived) that SpaceX, the spaceflight and telecommunications company Elon Musk founded, had imposed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield, its commercial and governmental satellite internet services, in Ukraine. 

Beskrestnov wrote that the restrictions came without warning and had disrupted a number of the Ukrainian military’s missions.

In the days following the disruption, as speculation abounded about who had ordered the slowdown of SpaceX’s internet services in Ukraine, some social media users claimed it was U.S. President Donald Trump or another White House official.

For example, following a Reuters report, one Threads user, whose post was quoted (archived) by activist organization The Other 98% on Facebook, wrote (archived):

So it’s official: Reuters has confirmed that the White House gave the order to disrupt Starlink so Russia could attack Kyiv with no advanced warning. The US aided and abetted Putin’s killing of numerous civilians in Ukraine. Trump’s a traitor, a Russian asset who is using US military technology to help our enemy.

Similar iterations of the rumor spread on X and Instagram as Snopes readers contacted us for more information.

It is unclear, as of this writing, who ordered SpaceX to slow down Starlink and/or Starshield services in Ukraine on or around Oct. 14. The slowdown has been widely reported by Ukrainian officials and reputable news organizations citing affected military personnel in Ukraine, plus U.S. officials have commented on the matter. Therefore, there is no reason to doubt that the slowdown did occur.

On Oct. 15, Reuters reported that Pentagon officials received an order to limit Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade satellite internet service — “from inside the White House.” The following day, British newspaper The Telegraph reported that it was Musk who first “approached” Trump with the idea to slow down SpaceX services in Ukraine. The paper reported that one anonymous source said Trump “agreed” with Musk’s idea. On Oct. 20, The Wall Street Journal reported that one anonymous source said Trump and Musk spoke about slowing down Starshield speeds before Musk reportedly “ordered” restrictions.

Trump told reporters on Oct. 16 that neither he nor Musk were responsible for the decision to slow down SpaceX services in Ukraine. Writing on X, Musk said (archived) the “US military and ultimately POTUS” were responsible for the secure Starshield system and that the commercial Starlink product could not be used for “offensive military action.”

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. Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2026

Snopes could not independently verify Reuters’, The Telegraph’s or The Wall Street Journal’s stories because they relied on anonymous sources.

When asked about the reports, the White House referred us to Trump’s Oct. 16 comments. A Pentagon spokesperson said via email, “There has been no change to Department of War policy regarding intelligence sharing or any capabilities we are enabling Europeans to provide to Ukraine.”

Considering the fact that Trump and members of his cabinet publicly and repeatedly denied having given the order to slow down Starlink or Starshield in Ukraine, in direct opposition to Reuters’, The Telegraph’s and The Wall Street Journal’s reports, we cannot give this claim a rating.

SpaceX did not return a request for comment on who ordered the slowdown of Starlink and/or Starshield services in Ukraine on or around Oct. 14 or on why this occurred. Snopes also contacted Beskrestnov to ask if SpaceX’s services are back to full capacity in Ukraine. We await a reply to our query.

Starlink is a satellite internet service. Using SpaceX’s rockets, the company has sent more than 11,000 of its own satellites into low-earth orbit. The satellites communicate with each other and Starlink terminals on Earth to connect customers to the internet. Starshield is similar, but is designed for government use.

Ukraine has used Starlink terminals since February 2022. The New York Times reported in July 2023 that artillery teams, drone commanders and pilots could watch drone footage simultaneously using a Starlink connection, which allowed them to find and hit targets faster.

What happened to SpaceX services in Ukraine?

On Oct. 16, Beskrestnov said that SpaceX had “implemented a speed limit for Starlink terminals while in motion” of 100 mph when those terminals were using the military-grade Starshield network that the company supplies to governments. The restrictions meant that if a terminal moved faster than 100 mph, its internet connection would cut out. 

The Associated Press, which interviewed Beskrestnov after the speed limitation came into force, said such a restriction posed a problem for Ukrainian drones, which frequently travel at speeds faster than 100 mph.

For example, the Assocated Press reported that Russian Shahed-class drones could fly at more than 250 mph. Being restricted to 100 mph meant Ukrainian drones could not chase down or intercept Shahed-class drones and were in turn more vulnerable to Russian offenses. (Shahed is the name of an Iranian-designed drone that Russia frequently uses for attacks inside Ukraine.)

On Oct. 16, Zelenskyy told reporters (archived) in Brussels that the Ukrainian military uses Starlink to “intercept jet-powered ‘shaheds’” as well as for “mid-range strikes against enemy military targets in our temporarily occupied territories.” He added that troops also “receive food and water delivered by drones using Starlink.”

That same day, Zelenskyy said speed restrictions had not been fully lifted. It is not clear exactly how long the restrictions have been in place.

On Oct. 17, Zelenskyy reportedly told journalists that Ukraine had driven Starlink terminals at speeds higher than 100 mph outside Ukraine and those terminals had continued to receive a connection, suggesting the speed restrictions affecting the country’s troops were deliberate and only applied in Ukraine.

Trump, US officials said they had ‘nothing to do’ with SpaceX service slowdown

Speaking during NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Oct. 18, Zelenskyy blamed the Starlink and Starshield speed restriction on the U.S. government and SpaceX. He said (time code 21:25), “It was the message from American government to limit this bit, and, technically, SpaceX did it.”

Zelenskyy made this claim despite Trump saying of the decision two days earlier (time code 11:21), “I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” referring to Musk.

Trump did not elaborate on how SpaceX might have suddenly placed limits on Starlink or Starshield speeds in Ukraine without the knowledge of himself, Musk or another decision maker.

Also on Oct. 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied any United States involvement in slowing down Starlink in Ukraine. He said (time code 00:42), “We had nothing to do with it. I don’t, I don’t — The United States, nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down.”

Rubio also repeated Trump’s Oct. 16 suggestion that the slowdown somehow occurred without a major decision maker, saying, “It sort of happened.”

The Secretary of State also claimed Ukraine does not have access to Starshield, SpaceX’s secure network for government entities. This is at odds with Beskrestnov’s Oct. 14 statement that said restrictions applied to Starlink terminals on the Starshield network. On Oct. 19, Rubio told journalists in Uzbekistan that Ukraine had “benefited” from Starshield, though did not elaborate on how.

Snopes asked Beskrestnov to clarify whether Ukraine had access to Starshield. We await replies to our queries. The State Department referred us to Rubio’s Oct. 19 remarks.

In response to a request from Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov to have speed restrictions on Starshield lifted, Musk wrote on X:

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.

Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.

If Beskrestnov is correct that the October speed restrictions applied to the Starshield network, Musk’s statement would likely place the responsibility for any changes with Trump or the U.S. government as the owner of the system. Trump and the Pentagon both denied having made changes to capabilities they provided to Ukraine.

Starlink troubles come at unsettled time for US-Ukraine relations

The sudden restrictions on SpaceX services came amid tensions between Ukraine and the United States. During an Oct. 15 Newsmax interview, Trump said he found Zelenskyy “more difficult to deal with than Putin” and appeared to repeat an earlier call for elections in Ukraine to replace its president.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy told British broadcast journalist Piers Morgan on Oct. 14 that he felt “betrayed” by Trump after the Starlink speed restrictions. He said he believed this was deliberate act by SpaceX and the U.S. that, he added, resulted in Ukrainian lives being lost.

Additionally, on Oct. 18, Zelenskyy told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that intelligence sharing from the United States to Ukraine had been “blocked for some period of time” but that U.S. officials had “de-blocked” it. 

The next day, Zelensky posted on X that he had “no early warning from our partners” before Russian strikes on Kyiv and other regions overnight. He added in a separate post that units using Starlink or Starshield services still did not work at speeds above 100 mph “in various sectors of the front.” 

Rubio said on Oct. 19 that the U.S. has never stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv, a claim repeated in the Pentagon spokesperson’s statement to Snopes.

Sources