Elon Musk has all but confirmed his company SpaceX was the one that throttled Ukraine’s access to its crucial satellite internet system, undermining the country at a vulnerable time in its fight against Russia.
Musk claimed Saturday that Ukraine had been using the civilian ‘Net system, Starlink, to carry out drone attacks against Russia and said SpaceX took action to stop that.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” the billionaire posted on X. “Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them.
“Ukraine military [sic] violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,” Musk said.
“SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR,” he added defiantly.
“That said, I have nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict.
“May you burn in hell.”
Ukrainian officials cried foul over their access to Starlink about two weeks ago, when they discovered issues with it involving their drones traveling at speeds of 160 km/h or more. Russian drones at the time were traveling at 400 km/h or higher.
The situation occurred shortly after President Trump announced a controversial diesel deal with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin.
Days before the internet slowdown targeting Kyiv, Musk echoed President Trump’s calls for Ukraine to get a new leader over complaints that the country kept attacking Russian refineries. Russia has been pummeling Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a bid to beat Kyiv into submission in the upcoming winter.
The throttling of Ukraine’s satellite internet access drew bipartisan and international outrage.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said full service had been restored.
“The speeds are now at the level we need,” he said in a Telegram post.
Musk had initially suggested that the Ukrainians were complaining about the military version of Starlink known as Starshield, which is under the US government’s control.
That led to confusion and a blame game over who was responsible for the slowdown.
Trump and top administration officials repeatedly claimed they were not at fault for the issue.
The slowdown has undermined Ukraine as it gears up for a brutal winter, with Russia systematically attacking its energy infrastructure that keeps civilians warm.
Before Musk came clean on X, there had been confusion about who thwarted Ukraine’s internet access. The Post reported that some administration sources were even uncertain about who the culprit was.
