Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski publicly warned Elon Musk on Wednesday, October 14, that European customers were watching his actions, after Ukrainian officials reported that unexpected Starlink restrictions had disrupted military operations. Posting on X, Sikorski asked whether Musk was playing politics with his products again and added: “As your European customers, we are watching you,” according to the Kyiv Post.
Key facts
- Sikorski’s post followed Ukrainian reports that some Starlink terminals were losing connectivity while moving at high speed, interfering with drone missions, the Kyiv Post reported.
- Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a presidential adviser on defence technology, said on Telegram that SpaceX — Musk’s rocket and satellite company — introduced the limits overnight without notifying Ukraine’s Defence Forces.
- Beskrestnov said the limit applied to the Starshield, SpaceX’s military service tier, and hit terminals moving above 100 miles per hour, or roughly 160 kilometres per hour.
- SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news agency Reuters, whose reporting on the restrictions the Kyiv Post cited. The company has not commented publicly on the reported limits.
Why it matters
Sikorski has built his argument on Poland’s standing as a paying customer before. In the March 2025 row he said Poland paid approximately $50 million a year for Ukraine’s access to the satellite internet service and would look for another supplier if SpaceX proved unreliable, the Kyiv Post reported; Polish officials have also said the country funds about half of the Starlink terminals Ukraine uses. That spending sits with Polish ministries rather than with Ukrainian units, and it is the ground Sikorski cited in 2025 when he raised the prospect of switching suppliers — the same customer framing he returned to on Wednesday.
The Polish government has previously highlighted Starlink’s importance in keeping Ukraine connected after Russian attacks damaged conventional telecommunications infrastructure, Outlook India reported.
What Ukraine reported
Beskrestnov said several missions were disrupted and linked the change to the political situation. The Kyiv Post noted that this explanation has not been independently established.
Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps told Reuters it had seen connections drop for 10 to 20 seconds at speeds of just 110 to 120 kilometres per hour, or 68 to 75 miles per hour. The drones kept flying, the corps said, but the interruptions made them harder to control and forced units to cancel some missions.
The two accounts do not match
The corps’ dropout speeds sit well below the cut-off Beskrestnov described. Neither statement set out how the speeds were measured, or whether the figure referred to the aircraft’s speed or the terminal’s, and the two reached the public in different formats: a Telegram post and a statement to a news agency. No third Ukrainian or Polish source has published a threshold of its own, and SpaceX has not said what it changed or when — so the gap cannot be closed from the public record as it stands.
Poland’s earlier clash with Musk
Sikorski’s post revisits a March 2025 dispute over how dependable Starlink was for Ukraine, the Kyiv Post reported. Musk replied to the Polish minister at the time with a four-word dismissal — “Be quiet, small man,” the outlet quoted him as saying.
Poland is separately investigating the fire at a Starlink ground station in central Poland as possible sabotage.
Related reading: Starlink pricing and availability by country.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Elon Musk ever promised not to switch off Ukraine’s Starlink terminals?
Yes. After his March 2025 exchange with Radosław Sikorski, Musk said Starlink would never switch off Ukraine’s terminals regardless of his disagreements over policy, according to the Kyiv Post. The October 2026 complaint from Kyiv concerns speed-based connection limits on terminals in motion, not a shutdown.
Have other European leaders pressed Musk about Starlink in Ukraine?
Yes. The Kyiv Post reported that in September, Finnish President Alexander Stubb urged Musk to enable Starlink coverage around Russian ballistic missile launchers, arguing that helping Ukraine destroy them before launch could save civilian lives.
What is the status of the Starlink ground station fire in Poland?
Polish authorities are treating the blaze near Grójec, at a site operated by the state-owned telecommunications company Exatel, as possible sabotage, and the Internal Security Agency is also examining whether an electrical fault caused it. No major interruption to internet services had been reported and Russian responsibility had not been established, according to Outlook India.
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