Elon Musk said Saturday that Ukraine had violated the terms of service for his Starlink satellite internet system by using it “for offensive drone strikes to kill people,” and that SpaceX had closed the loophole last week.
In a post on X, Musk, 55, offered his first public explanation of recent disruptions to the satellite communications that have become vital to Ukraine’s military operations against Russia. He distinguished between Starlink, which he described as a civilian service, and Starshield, a SpaceX system controlled by the U.S. government and intended for military use.
Elon Musk and SpaceX have supported Ukraine from the beginning, and this clip explains just how much that support mattered. Starlink became the communications backbone of Ukraine’s government and essential services, including first responders. When Russia jammed everything else on the frontline, Starlink was the only system still working. Not just one of the options. The only thing that worked. At the time of this interview, Elon put SpaceX’s support costs at roughly $100 million. That figure did not include the enormous risk to the entire Starlink constellation. Russian anti-satellite weapons could threaten the whole system. Elon Musk put the Starlink constellation on the line to help Ukraine. Think about that.
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) October 25, 2026
Ukrainian drones resumed flying at normal speeds on Saturday after more than a week of slowdowns that had hampered operations, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “The speeds are now where they need to be,” he stated in a social-media video. “The restoration began overnight, and by this morning, speeds were already sufficient.”
Ukraine has used Starlink primarily for communications and Starshield for certain air-defense functions and for guiding drones in Russian-occupied territory. Musk provided few specifics on how the loophole was closed.
Also on Saturday, SpaceX sent a letter to Congress stating that no changes had been made to Starshield, which remains under U.S. government control. The company said it had altered Starlink because Ukraine was using the system for “offensive military aviation missions.”