Ukraine accuses SpaceX of throttling Starlink service and crippling drone missions, as Russian missiles batter the power grid and U.S.-Kyiv ties hit a new low.
Ukraine accused Elon Musk's SpaceX on Wednesday of quietly throttling Starlink service in a way that crippled its drone missions, opening a new front in Kyiv's escalating dispute with Washington as Russian missiles pounded the country's power grid.
The charge followed an overnight barrage that left roughly 600,000 Ukrainians without power and drew a pointed rebuke from President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at Russia's treatment of President Donald Trump.
Behind both stories is the same hard turn: the relationship between Kyiv and the White House has deteriorated sharply in a matter of weeks, and Ukraine is now pressing an American company in public while it pleads for continued American backing.
Ukrainian military officials said SpaceX had, without warning, interrupted the functioning of military-grade Starlink terminals when they were moving at high speed -- the setup Kyiv uses to steer drones in flight.
"Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions," presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram.
A source in Ukraine's defense ministry said the restrictions significantly complicate logistics and some drone operations. Ukraine's 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, deployed in the southeast, said the connection could drop for 10 to 20 seconds at speeds of just 110 to 120 kilometers per hour, making the drones harder to control even though they kept flying.
Starlink does not operate inside Russia, and Ukrainian drones striking Russian oil targets use other communications. But Kyiv depends on the network to guide drones across its own territory, including areas occupied by Russian forces.
Since it was switched on over Ukraine in the early days of the 2022 invasion, Starlink has been the lifeblood of Ukrainian battlefield communications. Its resistance to electronic jamming turned it into a critical tool for long-range attack drones and for aircraft dropping supplies to frontline troops.
Poland, which pays for Ukraine's Starlink subscriptions, reacted sharply. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski went after Musk directly on X.
"Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?" Sikorski wrote. "As your European customers, we are watching you."
Musk, a close political ally of Trump, did not immediately respond. He has dismissed Sikorski as a "small man" in the past. SpaceX did not immediately answer requests for comment outside U.S. business hours.
The exchange turned a commercial satellite service into a geopolitical flashpoint, with a European government demanding answers from an American company over decisions made on American soil.
The Starlink dispute broke out amid a broader breakdown in U.S.-Ukraine relations. Ties have worsened since Trump abruptly lifted sanctions on Russian diesel last week and pressed Kyiv to end the war, part of his drive to bring down fuel prices that surged after the campaign against Iran.
Trump, under pressure from American drivers and businesses, has called on Ukraine to stop striking Russian refineries and said Ukrainians should replace their wartime leader. The president also announced that both sides had agreed to halt attacks on energy targets -- a truce neither side has confirmed.
Russia's bombardment has carried on regardless, the same deadly pattern seen in an earlier glide-bomb strike on a Kramatorsk bus stop that killed at least 30 people. Moscow's defense ministry confirmed it struck four power plants in and around Kyiv and two in Kharkiv. Zelensky said more than 30 power stations were damaged, and Ukraine reported downing just 4 of 39 Russian missiles.
Zelensky cast the strikes as a deliberate insult to Trump, writing on X that Russia "does not consider the American President's statements strong" and that the attack was "entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale."
Zelensky has said Ukraine is willing to observe an energy ceasefire and has not targeted Russian refineries since Trump announced it, but warned Kyiv will not keep holding back if Russia ignores the truce. The Kremlin said contacts on an energy truce are continuing.
Sources familiar with the discussions have said Washington has threatened to withhold intelligence used for early warning of missile strikes, hoping to push Kyiv to stop hitting Russian oil infrastructure. Trump insisted Tuesday that the United States was still sharing intelligence.
For the White House, the calculation is straightforward: a faster end to the war steadies global energy markets, eases pressure on prices at home and narrows the open-ended commitment of American resources to a conflict in Europe. For Kyiv, every American lever -- sanctions, intelligence, satellites -- is now a point of leverage against it.
Watch whether the energy truce holds, whether the Starlink limits are lifted, and whether Trump's pressure produces the settlement he is seeking -- or deepens the strain with an ally whose battlefield edge runs through American technology and American goodwill.
Ukraine accuses SpaceX of throttling Starlink service and crippling drone missions, as Russian missiles batter the power grid and U.S.-Kyiv ties hit a new low.
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