Ukrainian officials have disputed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s claims that the country’s military violated Starlink’s terms of service by using the civilian satellite Internet network for offensive drone attacks. Serhii Beskrestnov, defense technology adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said long-standing restrictions on the civilian system in Ukraine made such offensive use impossible. “It is very strange that Elon Musk does not know about restrictions on Starlink operations in Ukraine,” he wrote in an online post. SpaceX’s Starlink and its military-focused Starshield service are critical to Ukraine’s wartime connectivity. Earlier this month, Ukrainian drones connected to Starshield lost connectivity at high speeds, disrupting air defenses during daily Russian airstrikes. Officials said the so-called speed limits were lifted Saturday and service was restored. Still, questions remain about who ordered the disruptions to the satellite internet system that kyiv has relied on for years to counter Moscow’s attacks. Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram that drones operated through the civilian Starlink system had a speed restriction of 70 to 90 km/h within Ukraine and did not work in Russia. Serhii Beskrestnov, also known as Flash, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says it would not be possible for the Ukrainian military to use Starlink for offensive drone strikes. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press) “Therefore, we physically cannot use commercial Starlink for deep or medium-range attacks,” he said. Musk acknowledged on Saturday that SpaceX had strangled Starlink in Ukraine. “The use of Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” Musk wrote. “The Ukrainian military violated Starlink’s terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.” But he maintained that the U.S. government controlled any changes that occurred with Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink that is the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communications. US President Donald Trump has maintained that he did not make that call, while Vice President JD Vance has hinted at White House coordination with Musk. Restrictions imposed last week on Starshield alarmed Ukrainian military and government officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. Tensions also increased between kyiv and Washington, a relationship already strained by Trump’s alleged agreement with Moscow to import diesel from Russia that Ukraine considered a betrayal. New push to end war The restoration of Starlink service followed a new diplomatic push by the United States to end the war. Russia agreed on Wednesday to resume tripartite talks with Washington and kyiv next month. On Friday, kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localized ceasefire mediated by the efforts of first lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo around Oleshky, a war-torn, Russian-occupied town in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russia had launched nearly 2,300 drones against Ukrainian cities over the past week, renewing his call for Western allies to speed up deliveries of interceptors. It said the attacks, many of them deadly, affected nine regions of the country and damaged power plants, grain warehouses, civilian homes and commercial facilities. Mark Carney on the consequences of the Starlink slowdown: Carney says he is “concerned” about the Starlink slowdown in Ukraine. Prime Minister Mark Carney says he is concerned about the slowdown of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system in Ukraine, which created “real consequences.” He says Canadians also don’t want to be caught in a situation where we are dependent on a supplier who might change their point of view and compromise Canadian sovereignty. More civilian deaths Russia launched more than 20 attacks against the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk overnight on Sunday, using drones and an aerial bomb, according to local authorities. Three people died at the scene and a fourth man died later in hospital, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, said, while more than a dozen people were wounded. In Vinnytsia, a city in central Ukraine, at least six people were injured when a Russian drone crashed into a residential building, according to the state emergency service. The attack also damaged a nearby nursing home, and emergency crews evacuated 15 elderly residents, the service said. Also according to the emergency service, back-to-back Russian attacks on a shopping center in Kharkiv injured four people late on Saturday, including three rescue workers. Ukraine has long accused Russia of so-called double-tap attacks, in which one initial attack is followed by another once rescuers arrive at the scene. Firefighters work at the scene of a missile attack on a shopping center in Kharkiv on Saturday. (Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters) Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces attacked multiple sites in and around Kharkiv, including a trade and logistics center that it said had stored dual-use goods destined for the Ukrainian military. In Russia, two people were killed and 13 others were injured in Belgorod, a city 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, after “massive” nighttime drone attacks carried out by kyiv, regional governor Alexander Shuvayev reported Sunday. In the Russian city of Oryol, the body of a fourth victim was pulled from the rubble the day after a Ukrainian attack on an industrial plant, local governor Andrey Klychkov said. On Saturday, local authorities said three people had died in the attack. That day, Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces attacked an electronics plant in Oryol that makes components for the ballistic and cruise missiles that Russia fires at Ukrainian cities.
