Musk personally ordered restriction on Starlink operations in Ukraine after conversation with Trump, - WSJ

American billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk personally ordered restrictions on Starlink’s operations in Ukraine. As a result, some of Ukraine’s attack drones and interceptor drones were unable to carry out their missions.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, according to Censor.NET.

Musk's decision

According to the publication, the restrictions were imposed on October 14. As a result, some Ukrainian strike drones and interceptor drones were effectively unable to carry out their missions.

Musk and Trump, the WSJ reports, were unhappy with Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Trump links to rising fuel prices in the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections.

According to the publication’s sources, before the restrictions were imposed, Musk spoke by phone with several high-ranking officials in the U.S. administration, including the White House leader. The restrictions caused confusion in the White House and strained relations between Washington and Kyiv.

As the WSJ reports, following Zelenskyy’s public complaints about Starlink’s operations, the White House began informally investigating who had issued the order. SpaceX representatives also reached out to the Trump administration to coordinate a joint position.

What Trump and the White House are saying

Trump had previously stated that he did not know who had made the decision to restrict Starlink: "I don’t know who it was, but I’d like to find out."

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the U.S. had cut off Ukraine’s satellite communications and noted that Starlink has the right to make such decisions on its own.

Earlier, Musk wrote on social media that Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, so any restrictions on speed or usage are determined by the U.S. military or the president. Reuters reported that the order to restrict Starshield in Ukraine came from within the White House.

Restrictions on Starlink operations in Ukraine

On October 14, volunteer and former adviser to the defence minister Serhii Sternenko said SpaceX had restricted the operation of Starlink terminals used by Ukrainian troops overnight. According to him, this had "disrupted a number of important missions". Data transmission restrictions were imposed depending on the speed of UAVs using Starlink.
Serhii Beskrestnov (Flash) later confirmed the information. According to him, the restrictions could also complicate the use of interceptor drones against jet-powered Shaheds.
Units of the Air Assault Forces’ 7th Corps also said they had begun recording Starlink connectivity problems on the Huliaipole axis overnight. The problems concerned the Starshield package — the so-called military package, which previously had no data transmission speed restrictions.
Former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov later said network operations were being restored at speeds of up to 160 km/h.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk said he does not determine the restrictions on Starshield used by Ukraine. The system is controlled by the US government, rather than SpaceX.
According to Reuters, the White House ordered the restrictions on Starshield for Ukraine.
On October 16, US President Trump said Washington was not involved in slowing down the "military package" of Starlink satellite communications (Starshield) used by Ukrainian troops.
On October 19, Zelenskyy reported that Ukrainian military assets equipped with Starlink stopped functioning at speeds of 130–161 km/h on various sections of the front.