Report: Musk ordered Starlink slowdown in Ukraine, then blamed it on Trump
The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk personally ordered the recent throttling of the military-grade Starlink network that Ukraine relies on, contradicting his claim that all such decisions are made by the US military and President Trump, who denies ordering the restrictions. The slowdown capped connection speeds for Ukrainian hardware and rendered some offensive and interceptor drones virtually useless, sparking panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the administration, and reportedly came after Musk and Trump criticized Ukraine for striking Russian diesel refineries. This matters because it shows how much wartime capability rests on critical infrastructure controlled by a single private individual.
SOURCES
- Ars Technica2026-10-21 18:35