Starlink dispute: Ukraine officials say speed caps blocked Musk's drone claim

Elon Musk says Ukraine broke Starlink's commercial terms by running offensive drone strikes through the satellite service. Ukraine's defense technology adviser says the technology could not have done what Musk describes. The disagreement turns on a physical constraint: how fast a drone can travel while connected to Starlink.

Musk posted Saturday that Ukraine's military 'violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people,' adding that the 'loophole was closed last week.' His comment followed SpaceX's move to bar Ukraine from using the satellite technology on drones above certain speeds.

Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, disputed the accusation in a Telegram post Sunday. He wrote that every Starlink terminal over Ukrainian territory, including Russian-occupied areas, was already subject to a movement speed limit of 70 to 90 kilometers per hour. He added that Starlink does not operate over Russian territory. One current and one former Ukraine official also rejected Musk's account, saying earlier SpaceX limits had already prevented the military use he described.

Ukraine officials have separately accused Musk of throttling Starshield, the military variant of Starlink that Ukraine receives through a deal with the U.S. government. Musk wrote that Starshield 'is controlled by the US government' and that 'what they decide to do is up to them.' Zelenskyy said over the weekend that the new satellite restrictions have been lifted. The restrictions were imposed about two weeks ago.