The Pentagon’s inspector general’s office declined a request from nine senators to investigate outages in Starlink and its military version, Starshield, in Ukraine, the Associated Press and CNN reported.
The inspector general’s office told the senators, four Republicans and five Democrats, that the questions would be better directed to the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.
“It is concerning that the Inspector General has apparently decided not to investigate satellite communication disruptions that Ukraine relies on to protect its civilians,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the co-authors of the request.
An anonymous aide to a U.S. member of Congress familiar with the situation told AP that the Pentagon’s inspector general is effectively refusing to investigate the activities of Musk and Starlink, “despite being well-positioned to do so.”
In mid-October, Ukrainian military officials said they were encountering restrictions on Starlink satellite communications — or, more precisely, on its military version, Starshield. Connectivity dropped when drones exceeded speeds of 160 kilometers per hour (99 mph).
Donald Trump said he had not ordered restrictions on Starshield service in Ukraine and did not know who might have. The Telegraph, citing four sources, reported that Musk had approached Trump with such a proposal. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Musk ordered the restrictions on Starshield for Ukraine.
Musk himself accused the Ukrainian military of violating Starlink’s terms of service, saying it had used the service for offensive drone strikes intended to kill people. He also claimed that if Russia began destroying Starlink satellites in retaliatory attacks, it would “a domino effect of destruction” and lead to “a vast field of debris” in space.
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