A new political storm has emerged over the critical satellite internet infrastructure Ukraine relies on for its frontline operations, after former President Donald Trump confirmed that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has reversed service restrictions placed on the Starlink network for Kyiv’s military.
The confirmation came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that full connectivity to Musk’s satellite system had not yet been reinstated, noting that operating speeds remained well below the levels Ukrainian forces require for effective combat operations. In his public remarks Thursday, Zelenskyy said “the speed has not been restored to 400 km/h yet, we are still working on the issue” and added that he was awaiting a formal update from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had promised to deliver clarity within a 48-hour window.
Zelenskyy’s comments came shortly before the *Wall Street Journal* published a report citing anonymous administration officials claiming Trump personally phoned Musk to pressure him to lift the speed caps that had hamstrung Ukraine’s military operations. According to the outlet, Trump told Musk he was frustrated that Starlink speeds remained capped at roughly 160 km/h, a restriction that had rendered Ukraine’s offensive drones and air defense interceptors largely ineffective against Russian strikes. The report added that connectivity returned to near-normal levels shortly after the call between the U.S. president and SpaceX’s CEO. BBC News has not independently verified the *Journal*’s claims, and has reached out to both the White House and SpaceX for comment on the situation.
Musk has previously denied any personal involvement in imposing the slowdowns, which directly undercut Ukraine’s ability to deploy drones against Russian positions. Last week, the billionaire noted that the U.S. government retains ultimate control over Starshield — the military-grade variant of Starlink that Ukrainian forces use for many frontline operations — and argued the system was built specifically for the Pentagon, implying the U.S. military could have been behind the restrictions. The White House has repeatedly pushed back on these claims, issuing multiple public denials that it ever ordered any restrictions on Starlink access for Ukraine.
The connectivity restrictions emerged against a backdrop of growing friction between the Trump administration and Kyiv, as Trump has publicly pressured Zelenskyy to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries. The U.S. president has argued these strikes have driven up global energy prices, creating economic headwinds ahead of next month’s U.S. midterm elections. To ease domestic fuel costs, Trump has recently waived some U.S. sanctions on Russian energy exports and struck a deal to allow imports of Russian diesel into the U.S. market, a policy shift that has drawn sharp criticism from both Ukraine and its European allies.
Ukraine has become heavily dependent on the Starlink network, owned and operated by Musk’s SpaceX, to support a wide range of critical military functions. Beyond frontline troop communications, the system is a core component of Ukraine’s early warning systems that alert civilian and military populations to incoming Russian missile attacks. The first reports of disruptions to Ukrainian access to U.S.-provided digital infrastructure emerged in mid-October, when Kyiv first reported an interruption to U.S. intelligence sharing.
When asked Thursday whether he had pressured Musk to restore full service, Trump declined to elaborate on the specifics of any interaction, but offered a clear confirmation that access had been reinstated. When pressed on the issue, the U.S. president told reporters: “Bottom line, he put it back.” The Trump administration has previously stood by its insistence that it never issued any instruction to SpaceX to restrict Starlink connectivity for Ukrainian forces.