Elon Musk said on Saturday, 24 October 2026, that his company SpaceX had throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, the first on-the-record admission from the SpaceX chief executive after more than a week of unexplained restrictions. His post on X followed a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that access to Starlink and to Starshield had been returned to its earlier speeds.
The difference between the two products runs through the whole dispute: Starlink is SpaceX’s commercial broadband service, sold to consumers and businesses under civilian terms of use, while Starshield is the company’s military-grade system built for government and defence customers.
Key facts
- Musk acknowledged the throttling in a post on X on Saturday, according to CBS News.
- Zelenskyy said restoration work started overnight and that speeds were back to their previous levels by Saturday morning.
- Musk said the US government controlled any changes to Starshield, which both outlets describe as the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communications.
- Ukrainian commanders reported losing drones and having missions disrupted while the restrictions were in force.
- CBS News says it reported on Tuesday that Musk was behind the disruption, days before he confirmed it.
Why it matters
What the two reports establish is the line Musk says SpaceX will enforce: Starlink is sold as a civilian commercial service, and SpaceX treats some military uses of it as outside the terms of service. Neither source goes further, but on this outlet’s reading the episode is also a rare documented case of a commercial satellite internet operator cutting service to a state customer in wartime and then saying publicly why.
Neither report mentions any change to Starlink consumer plans, prices or availability outside Ukraine, nor any SpaceX announcement to that effect; the curbs described applied to Ukrainian military use. For the current commercial terms, see our guide to Starlink plans, pricing and availability.
What Musk said
Musk framed the curbs as enforcement rather than politics. “Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” he wrote in the post quoted by CBS News, adding that Ukraine’s military had violated Starlink’s terms of service and that the loophole had been closed the previous week.
Who controls Starshield
While accepting responsibility for the Starlink throttling, Musk said decisions affecting Starshield rested with the US government, according to both CBS News and english.gujaratsamachar. Neither report says the US government has confirmed that account.
Conflicting accounts in Washington
Who ordered the interruption has been contested since the restrictions began. US President Donald Trump said he did not make the call, while also saying Musk should not be blamed, both outlets report. English.gujaratsamachar adds that Vice President JD Vance suggested there had been coordination between the White House and Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied any administration involvement.
Those accounts cannot all be reconciled from the published reporting, and neither source resolves them. They follow earlier news coverage in which the Wall Street Journal had reported that Musk ordered the slowdown, a claim that was unconfirmed at the time.
How the restoration unfolded
Zelenskyy said the links came back after work that began overnight and were at usable levels by Saturday morning, CBS News reports. He said the improvement would help front-line logistics and strengthen defence against Russian Shahed drones, which both reports describe as jet-powered. He also thanked Americans and partners who, he said, took the problem seriously.
The diplomacy behind it
The recovery came after days of diplomatic contact, including talks between Zelenskyy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on restoring the links. Earlier in the week, Zelenskyy had earlier said he expected full service back within 48 hours.
Background
Both outlets place the dispute inside a strained Kyiv–Washington relationship, already damaged by what they describe as Trump’s reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal. The fighting that makes the satellite links militarily valuable did not pause while they were throttled: english.gujaratsamachar reports a man was killed and two wounded in a missile attack on Lozova in the Kharkiv region on Saturday.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who in Ukraine credited the restoration, and to what?
Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara credited direct dialogue and Zelenskyy’s diplomacy with Washington, according to CBS News and english.gujaratsamachar. Khmara said the outcome mattered most for the front, the military, drone work, logistics and communications.
What did Musk say about SpaceX’s record in Ukraine?
In the same round of posts, Musk defended SpaceX’s role in bolstering Ukraine’s defences since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, both outlets reported. He did not dispute that Kyiv has relied on the service for years.
What diplomatic moves happened around the restoration?
Both reports note that Russia agreed on Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with the United States and Ukraine next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localised ceasefire around Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in the Kherson region, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
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