Elon Musk was responsible for the slowdown of the Starlink network which impacted the Ukrainian army’s ability to carry out military operations in its war against Russia, according to a report.
Starlink, which is controlled by Musk’s SpaceX, has been crucial in allowing Ukraine to guide drones and protect its skies from Russian attacks.
But last week, unexpected speed limits were put on the network, hampering Kyiv’s military operations.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that it was Musk himself who was responsible for implementing the restriction.
According to the publication, the billionaire discussed the decision with Donald Trump in a phone call after the outage became public. The pair reportedly also discussed the matter before the decision to restrict Starlink was taken.
Citing US officials and people familiar with the matter, the WSJ said Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the network which rendered its offensive and interceptor drones ineffective.
The move had sparked condemnation from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in a message to Musk that it was a “big mistake” that would cause “a lot of losses.”
In posts on social media, Musk had suggested it was the US government and Trump who took the decision to implement the Starlink restrictions.
In a post on X, the billionaire said that Starshield, the military-grade sister service to Starlink, is controlled by the US government, and “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately [the US president]”.
After Ukraine’s former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Starlink had been partially restored by Wednesday evening, Musk defended SpaceX’s involvement in the disruption.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote.
Musk added that Starlink is for “civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company”.
This week, defence secretary Pete Hegseth insisted Washington had not restricted Ukraine’s ability to access Starlink. However, he seemingly implied that any issues rested with corporate terms of service Kyiv needed to comply with.
The Starlink restriction had come amid strained tensions between the US and Ukraine as Trump cosied up to Vladimir Putin.
Trump caused shock and anger when he struck a deal with Putin to buy diesel from Russia in an attempt to bring down pump prices in the US ahead of next month’s crucial mid-terms.
The US president also waived strict economic sanctions on Moscow just two days before they were due to come into force.
Over the weekend, Trump issued a lengthy statement making clear his pro-Russian stance and going as far as accusing Zelensky of wanting the war in Ukraine to continue.