Ukraine says its military did not violate Starlink terms, disputing Elon Musk claim
Ukrainian officials have disputed Elon Musk's claim that the Ukrainian military violated Starlink's terms of service by using the system for offensive drone strikes. A defense adviser stated that technical restrictions make such offensive use physically impossible on the civilian version of the service.
Why it matters
The dispute highlights the complex intersection of private technology companies, military operations, and geopolitical conflict in modern warfare.
Serhii Beskrestnov, a defence technology adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said long-standing restrictions on the civilian system in Ukraine made such offensive use impossible.
"It's very strange that Elon Musk doesn't know about the restrictions on Starlink's operation 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 defences during daily Russian air attacks. Officials said the so-called speed caps were lifted on Saturday, and the service was restored.
Still, questions have persisted about who ordered the interruptions to satellite internet system that Kyiv has relied on for years to counter Moscow's attacks .
Writing on Telegram, Beskrestnov said that drones operated via the civilian Starlink system had a speed restriction of 70 to 90 km/h within Ukraine and did not work in Russia.
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