Musk blames Trump for throttling Starlink in Ukraine

Elon Musk suggests US government behind Starlink restrictions in Ukraine

The full report

Elon Musk has suggested that the US government may be behind restrictions on the speed at which some of Ukraine's weapons can travel and stay connected to SpaceX's Starlink internet network.

According to Musk, Starshield, the military-grade sister service to Starlink, is controlled by the US government, and "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately [the US president]".

Ukrainian officials had been pleading with Musk to restore connectivity, including from President Volodymyr Zelensky who told UK media: "I hope that it's a mistake, maybe [a] huge technical problem. I don't know, but we are asking to... switch [it] on."

The restrictions on Tuesday night came as Russia launched deadly attacks against Ukraine that killed several people in Kyiv, officials said, and hit communications and energy facilities used by Ukraine's military.

Musk added that Starlink is for "civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company".

Starlink, which is owned by Musk's SpaceX, restricted speed limits on Tuesday night to 100mph (160km/h), meaning any weapons that travelled faster than that lost connectivity to the network. It had been partially restored by Wednesday evening, Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.