Elon Musk says Ukraine ‘violated Starlink terms’ as full speed service returns

Elon Musk has said that the Ukraine military “violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people” and that “loophole” was subsequently closed last week.

On October 24, 2026, the SpaceX owner turned to social media where he stated that Starlink was a civilian commercial service which should never be used for “offensive drone strikes to kill people”.

“Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government,” Musk wrote. “What they decide to do is up to them.”

Musk’s social media post came on the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Starlink and Starshield operations had been “restored to the speeds we had before the restrictions”.

“The speeds are now where they need to be,” the president said. “The restoration began overnight, and by this morning, speeds were already sufficient.”

Earlier in October 2026, Ukraine began reporting unexpected speed restrictions that disrupted drone operations and its ability to intercept attacks by Russia.

Various differing reports blamed the White House while others claimed Elon Musk and Starlink were responsible for restrictions.

Comments by senior US administration figures over the last two weeks seemed to offer little clarity on the situation.

In Musk’s latest post explaining the “loophole” he said that Starlink remains “critical to the defense of Ukraine, as it is the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now”.

“Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact,” Musk wrote.

He added: “SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR.”

While there has been no official response from Ukraine to Musk’s statement on X, presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov, wrote on Telegram that the comments were unclear.

“It is very strange that Elon Musk does not know about the restrictions on Starlink operation in Ukraine,” Beskrestnov said. “1. Starting from the winter of 2026, all StarLink terminals over the territory of Ukraine (including occupied territories) have a speed limit of 70-90 km/h. 2. StarLink does not operate over the territory of Russia. Thus, we PHYSICALLY CANNOT USE COMMERCIAL STARLINK for deep strikes and middle strikes.”

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