A senior official in the U.S. presidential administration told Axios the White House had nothing to do with restricting Starlink’s operation in Ukraine.
Axios’s sources said the Trump administration plans to contact SpaceX to find out what happened with Starlink in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry earlier announced that it had run into restrictions on Starshield, the military version of Starlink used by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian servicemen and officials said the restrictions disrupted some missions.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that U.S. authorities own and control the Starshield systems. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote on the social media platform X.
The White House has not officially commented on the reports of restrictions on Starlink’s operation in Ukraine.
The restriction on Starlink’s operation was reported amid a crisis in relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine also said it had stopped receiving warnings from American allies about the launch of Russian ballistic missiles. Western media, citing government sources, reported that the U.S. told Ukraine it would withhold intelligence sharing unless Kyiv stopped striking Russian oil refineries.
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