Ukraine Starshield disruption sparks blame game in Trump administration

Recent efforts to restrict Ukraine's access to satellite systems have sparked a blame game among officials in the Donald Trump administration and its allies, with conflicting accounts of what caused the disruption to Kyiv's military operations, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing AP.

Restrictions imposed last week on Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade version of its Starlink satellite internet service, alarmed Ukrainian military and government officials. Commanders reported losing drones and facing disrupted missions before Trump said on Thursday that the service was again operating at full speed.

Starshield supports Ukraine's drone operations and military communications. The episode and the lack of clarity over who was responsible have caused concern among Ukraine's allies and lawmakers in the US Congress who favour a tougher approach towards Russia.

Questions have been raised over who ordered the interruptions to the satellite internet system developed by Elon Musk's company. Ukraine has relied on the system for years to counter Russian attacks.

Trump maintained as recently as Thursday that he did not order the restrictions. Vice-President JD Vance suggested there had been coordination between the White House and Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the administration was involved.

Musk, a major Republican donor and Trump ally, said questions about Starshield should be directed to the Pentagon because Ukraine was using the military-grade version of the technology.

Over the past week, Trump repeatedly told reporters that he had not ordered restrictions on the satellite communications system used by Ukraine's military. He also expressed doubt that Musk was responsible for the disruption.

"Well, I don't know if it was anybody, but it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon," Trump said on Friday. "And from what I understand, it's the same as it's always been."

On Thursday, Trump appeared to confirm that the service had been disrupted and said it was again working at full speed. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had agreed to lift the restrictions. Asked whether he had requested their removal, Trump said: "You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference. I guess the bottom line, he put it back."

Asked in Cincinnati on Thursday about Musk's role in the slowdown and whether the matter should be investigated, Vance said: "I think that fundamentally, Elon Musk runs a private corporation. And I think it's completely understandable that he doesn't want to get in the middle of what is a war between two state actors without the United States government effectively directing him on what to do."

Vance added: "So I don't think this is about Elon. I think it's fundamentally what is America's policy in Ukraine and Russia going to be."

Rubio insisted that neither the Trump administration nor the wider US government had played any role in interrupting Ukraine's access to satellite data. Speaking to reporters in India on Wednesday, he said for the third time in four days that Trump and his administration had not ordered any restriction, though he suggested Musk may have been involved, PTI reported.

"What I can tell you with certainty is the president of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that's what we said repeatedly," Rubio said. "The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr Musk. That's a private company. The president doesn't run that company and can't direct that company to do anything."

Hegseth also denied on Tuesday that the US had slowed the satellite internet service and pointed to SpaceX's responsibility. "We haven't pulled anything back," he told reporters, adding that "there are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to". He did not explain which terms Ukraine needed to follow but said "Starlink has the option to make those decisions".

Musk, who leads SpaceX, placed responsibility on the Trump administration last week. "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," he wrote on X on October 14.

He added: "Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sought to reverse the restrictions, which were imposed without warning. Soon after the systems stopped working, he said similar restrictions did not apply in European Union countries and affected only Ukraine. "In other words, this is a planned operation," he said.

Zelenskyy spoke to a bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Monday. In a video of the briefing posted on social media, he said: "We still face speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front, and we still have no explanation for this. Just different strange stories".

In an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Starlink connectivity remained restricted in Ukraine and that Rubio had told him he would work to "unblock" the slowdown.

The restrictions disrupted Ukrainian drone missions and communications, but Trump has said the service is again operating at full speed. His administration, Musk and Ukrainian officials have continued to offer differing accounts of who imposed the limits and why.

With PTI Inputs

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