Ukraine on Wednesday accused Elon Musk’s SpaceX of tightening access to Starlink in a way that disrupted crucial drone operations, a complaint landing at a tense moment as fraying ties with Washington sharpen fears about the durability of US battlefield support.
As the dispute simmered, Russia stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, cutting electricity to hundreds of thousands. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strikes as “ostentatious disrespect” for US President Donald Trump’s call for an energy ceasefire.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, escalated his criticism of Mr Zelensky after lifting sanctions on Russian diesel in a bid to relieve pressure on fuel prices that have surged since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February.
He urged Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian refineries and called on Ukrainians to replace Mr Zelensky.
“It’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side,” Mr Zelensky said in an interview with the Piers Morgan Uncensored programme.
He said he could accept Mr Trump positioning himself between Ukraine and Russia, but added: “If you are in the middle, you have to stay in the middle.”
Pressed on reports that the military version of Starlink had been restricted in Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said: “It’s a big mistake… This decision will bring a lot of human losses.”
He did not identify who made the decision.
Elon Musk said ‘any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military’ and the president
Mr Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive and the public face of Starlink, said the US government controlled the system’s speeds.
“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Mr Musk wrote on the social media platform X, using the acronym for president of the United States.
Mr Musk is a close political ally of Mr Trump’s.
During the same interview, Mr Zelensky rejected Mr Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine needed a new leader.
“It is a decision of our people,” he said.
“No Trump, no Musk, not anyone in the world can choose the president or elect in other countries,” he added.
The clash comes as Mr Trump’s Republican allies face intensifying pressure over the cost of living ahead of November’s midterm elections, with fuel prices and household expenses weighing on voters and pushing the administration to search for ways to curb energy costs.
Donald Trump said Washington was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine
Sources have told Reuters and other media that the US has threatened to cut off intelligence that provides early warning of missile strikes on Ukraine, to pressure Kyiv into suspending attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Ukrainian officials said late on Tuesday they had gone a second day without warnings from Western partners before Russian missiles struck the capital.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that Washington was still sharing intelligence.
In a Telegram post after talks in London with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Mr Zelensky said: “It is clear that the Russians are trying to take advantage of the problems with Starlink in Ukraine as the operation of interceptor drones largely depends on that connection.”
Mr Burnham announced the planned delivery of £45m (€53m) of surface-to-air missiles used to target jet-powered Russian drones, with £10m (€11m) of that package fast-tracked to meet an urgent need in Ukraine.
Mr Trump said at the weekend that Ukraine and Russia both agreed to stop attacking energy targets, though neither side confirmed this and heavy Russian bombardment over the last two days included strikes on Ukrainian power stations.
After a night of attacks on Kyiv, Russian strikes continued throughout the day yesterday. Six people were killed in the western city of Lutsk, where the regional governor said a warehouse and a residential building were hit.
Ukraine, for its part, continued long-range strikes on Russia, hitting Russia’s biggest data centre. Kyiv said it is refraining, for now, from striking energy targets to show respect for Mr Trump.
Ukrainian military officials said SpaceX had, without warning, begun interrupting the functioning of military-grade terminals when they were moving at high speed.
Kyiv installs SpaceX receptors in many of its drones as part of their onboard guidance systems.
The terminals operate across Ukraine, including in territory held by Russian forces.
“Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation and this led to the disruption of several missions,” presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram, saying the restriction affected Starshield, SpaceX’s military and intelligence service.
A Defence Ministry source and another military source said the speed cutoff was undermining Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian targets inside Ukraine and to defend against Russian drones using its own interceptor drones.
Mr Beskrestnov said SpaceX had imposed a speed limit of 100m/ph.
Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a blaze at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv
The Defence Ministry source told Reuters that military units had reported guidance systems losing their connections at speeds of less than half that.
The source said Ukraine was in contact with the company, the US government and NATO seeking clarification over the sudden limits.
The prospect that Mr Musk’s company had curtailed Ukraine’s military capabilities prompted an angry response from Poland, which pays for Ukrainian Starlink subscriptions on Kyiv’s behalf.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski asked Mr Musk on X.
“As your European customers, we are watching you,” he added.
Mr Musk did not immediately respond. He has previously called Mr Sikorski a “small man”.
In Kyiv, rescue workers were seen overnight carrying the injured from the wreckage of a residential building as firefighters fought a large blaze in the dark.
Officials said two people were killed and 21 wounded at the site.
About 600,000 people lost power after Russian missiles hit power stations during hours of attacks that largely targeted Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s two biggest cities.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it struck four power plants in and around Kyiv and two in Kharkiv, among other targets.
Mr Zelensky said 30 energy facilities were damaged.
He portrayed the latest wave of strikes as a calculated rebuff to Mr Trump’s ceasefire claims on energy targets.
“Russia does not consider the American president’s statements strong,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States,” he added.
