Zelensky pushes back against Musk, says Ukraine uses Starshield to defend itself

Ukraine has used SpaceX's Starshield satellite systems only to defend itself against Russian forces on its own territory, not for attacks on Russian soil, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 27.

The comments come as a rebuff of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who claimed Ukraine's "military violated Starlink terms of service" by using the systems for offensive drone attacks.

Ukraine widely uses both commercial Starlink terminals and their militarized version, Starshield.

Starshield was temporarily speed-restricted to 160 kilometers per hour in Ukraine earlier this month, hampering Ukrainian drone interceptors' ability to down Russian jet-powered drones and disrupting other military operations.

"When Elon Musk said that we use Starshield against the Russians — yes, against the Russians, but on our own territory. This is not offensive; it's defensive," Zelensky told journalists at a press briefing.

"But the point is that we use it against Russian troops on our territory, not on Russian territory. They came here to kill," he said.

Musk alleged that Kyiv used commercial Starlink terminals for "offensive drone strikes to kill people," adding that the "loophole" has now been closed. However, he rejected responsibility for Starshield restrictions, saying the militarized terminals are controlled by the U.S. government.

Ukrainian officials have previously rejected Musk's claims about Kyiv violating Starlink's service terms. Presidential adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov said that the commercial Starlink has a speed restriction of 70-90 kilometers per hour and does not work on Russian territory.

Zelensky confirmed on Oct. 24 that both Starlink and Starshield are again working at full speed. Nobody has publicly claimed responsibility for the throttling of Starshield, though Trump administration officials have pointed fingers at Musk.

"Of course, civilians died while Starlink/Starshield were switched off," Zelensky said. "We're now shooting down about 90% of (Shahed-type drones). When the (latest wave of) attacks began, we were shooting down between 50% and 75–78%. Then that rate dropped back again."

The president revealed that Ukraine was just successfully testing its jet-powered Bars drone interceptors — 2,000 units of which were paid for by a European country — when the restrictions hit.

"So I really don't know who told SpaceX to do that," Zelensky said, suggesting it could either be Musk's personal decision or an instruction by a U.S. official. "I only know that, technically, SpaceX turns these systems on and off."

The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 23 that Trump had ordered the SpaceX CEO to lift the restrictions, while the U.S. president publicly claimed he had not spoken to Musk about the issue but might do so if the problems persisted.

The restrictions came amid deteriorating ties between the U.S. and Ukraine, with Trump easing sanctions pressure on Moscow while accusing Zelensky of not being interested in peace — despite Kyiv repeatedly backing various U.S.-backed ceasefire proposals, which were turned down by Russia.