SpaceX Chief executive officer Elon Musk. alamy

Musk warns Starlink will cut service if Ukraine uses it to 'kill people'

Tensions between Washington and Kyiv over disruptions to the SpaceX network were made crucial to the Ukrainian army’s operations.

TECH TYCOON ELON Musk accused Ukraine of violating Starlink’s terms of service by using it for “drone strikes to kill people”.

It comes after tensions between Washington and Kyiv over disruptions to the SpaceX-made network crucial to the Ukrainian army’s operations.

“Ukrainian military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people,” Musk wrote in a post on X, but added that that loophole was closed last week.

“Starlink’s terms have remained consistent as a civilian system, not a means of killing. Violation of those terms will result in an end of service,” he wrote in another post.

He added that Starlink remained “critical to the defence of Ukraine, as it is the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now. Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately.”

While Musk has shifted stance on Ukraine many times since Russia’s invasion in 2022, he has insisted that any disruption was the responsibility of the US government, not SpaceX.

Kyiv relies on the civilian Starlink satellite communications system and the military-grade Starshield version as it tries to defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.

“Monitoring systems are recording a recovery in the speed of Starlink/Star shield. We are registering a speed of more than 400 km/h, the connection is stable,” defence minister Yevgeniy Khmara said in a statement on Saturday.

“This result is above all important for our front, for our soldiers, for the operation of drones, for logistics and for communications,” he added.

“Right now, the speed is what we need. The restoration began during the night,” he said on social media.

“This is very important; it’s significant for our frontline logistics, for protecting Ukraine” from rocket-powered drones, he stressed.

The satellite network has been at the centre of a row between Ukraine and the United States.

Zelenskyy had accused Washington of helping Russia by failing to warn Kyiv of incoming missile strikes and hobbling its military response by throttling Starlink’s speed.

Khmara credited Zelensky’s “firm stance” on the issue, judging that it was “bearing fruit”.

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AI-GENERATED
Readers argue whether Elon Musk is right to restrict Starlink in Ukraine
Where they land
Commenters split on whether Musk is protecting lives or enabling Russian aggression
What they think
Musk's control over critical infrastructure worries many readers
Some argue Ukraine needs the technology to defend itself
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