Donald Trump's administration has given mixed signals about restrictions on Ukraine's access to Starshield - the military version of the Starlink satellite internet system. The US president said the service was back up and running at full speed, but a senior European official familiar with the situation on the ground told the Associated Press that the restriction remains in place and the system continues to have a top speed of about 100 miles per hour, or 160 kilometers per hour.
The restrictions were introduced during the week of October 13-14 and have affected communications and operations with Ukrainian drones. Ukrainian commanders have reported lost aircraft and aborted missions, and the speed limit makes it difficult to use the system against faster-moving targets. Kiev has not yet received an official explanation of who ordered the change and what the reasons were.
Washington denies ordering the change
Marco Rubio said that neither Trump nor any other representative of the US government requested changes to the operation of Starlink or Starshield.
The Secretary of State added that Starlink is a commercial service of SpaceX, while Starshield is a specialized defense product provided through the US Department of Defense. According to him, the president does not run the company and cannot tell it how to operate.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also denied that the US administration had taken away Ukraine's access, but said that there were "terms of use" that must be met. He did not specify what those terms were and indicated that Starlink could make decisions about the service.
Musk points to the US government
Elon Musk gave a different explanation. On October 14, he wrote that the Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government, and that restrictions on their speed or use are determined by the US military and ultimately by the president.
Vice President J.D. Vance also left open the question of Washington's role. He said that Musk runs a private corporation and that the dispute is essentially related to US policy towards Ukraine and Russia. "I don't think it's about Elon. It's about what the U.S. policy is going to be toward Ukraine and Russia," Vance said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the restrictions were imposed without warning and affected different parts of the front. He said the same restrictions had not been observed in European Union countries, which he described as a sign of a planned operation.
Congress wants answers
The conflicting claims have sparked a backlash in the U.S. Congress. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal has launched an investigation to determine how systems used by Ukrainian defense forces were slowed down. The case also raises questions about control over technology that Ukrainian forces depend on for communications, drone control and countering Russian strikes.
There has been no publicly confirmed explanation yet as to who ordered the restrictions. Trump claims that service has been restored, while information from the European representative and Zelensky's statements indicate that the speed limit remains in effect.
Sources: apnews.com, rferl.org, militarytimes.com