Musk Says Starshield Limits Are the President’s Call. Zelensky Says People Will Die
Musk says Starshield limits are decided by the US military and the president; Zelensky says the Starlink cut will cost lives. What was said, and by whom.
In this article
Context
Ukrainian officials reported on Tuesday night, 13 October, that speed limits had been placed on both SpaceX’s commercial Starlink service and Starshield, a separate system the US government controls. On Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky called the move “a big mistake” in an interview with Piers Morgan. Elon Musk then wrote on X that any Starshield limits are decided by the US military and “ultimately POTUS.”
The restriction came days after the Russian diesel deal, covered in our earlier reports on Trump’s call for a new Ukrainian president and on Zelensky’s reaction to the diesel deal. This piece covers what has been said since.
Key takeaways
Zelensky says the Starlink cut will cost lives and that he is “sure that they knew what they did.” Musk says Starshield belongs to the US government and that Starlink is a commercial service. Fedorov asked on Wednesday that the Starshield limit be removed entirely. Giorgia Meloni, speaking in the Italian Senate the same day, called the diesel deal “very risky.”
What was said about the restriction
Ukrainian officials told Axios that the limits were imposed on Tuesday night, Axios reported, on both Starlink and Starshield. BNO News reported that service was restored on Wednesday for users moving at up to 160 km/h, about 100 mph. Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the Starshield speed limit had not been fully lifted and that removing it entirely remained critical.
Asked by Piers Morgan whether Musk had restricted the service on purpose, Zelensky said: “I’m sure that they knew what they did.” In the same interview, as BNO reported, he said: “It’s a big mistake,” and “This decision will bring a lot of human losses.” Just the News reported him adding “people will die.”
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, was cited by Kyiv Post, as Just the News reported, saying that “this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation.”
Analysis
Musk’s answer
Musk wrote on X on Wednesday afternoon, as the Washington Examiner reported: “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government.” BNO carried his next sentence: “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” The Hill reported that he described Starlink as a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX, with usage limited to civilian or defensive activities.
The articles reviewed for this report carried no comment from the White House or the Pentagon. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, asked Musk to confirm that the disruptions were unintended, The Hill reported. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton III said, as Just the News reported: “This Starshield situation is fairly mystifying and certainly has further complicated our vital U.S.-Ukraine relationship.”
Analysis
What is Starshield, and how does it differ from Starlink?
Starlink is the commercial satellite internet service SpaceX owns. Starshield is a separate SpaceX product that the Pentagon uses for military purposes, according to Just the News. Ukrainian officials told Axios that the Tuesday limits covered both.
In Musk’s account, the commercial service answers to SpaceX and the government one answers to the military and the president.
Analysis
Zelensky on Trump
In the same Morgan interview, posted on Wednesday, Zelensky was asked whether he felt betrayed by Trump over the diesel deal. Mediaite transcribed his answer: “Really, yes.” He went on: “it’s a little bit more complicated than just my emotions or my feelings… Our country has to survive.” He also said: “That’s why it’s painful when President Trump chooses one side.” And: “I think that his advisers are wrong.”
The diesel deal was announced on 9 October after a Trump call with Putin. Trump said afterwards that Ukraine should get a new president, as we reported then. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the arrangement would proceed under existing legal authority.
Analysis
Meloni in the Senate
Meloni told the Italian Senate on Wednesday, ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, that the diesel deal was “very risky.” The Kyiv Independent, via Yahoo News, reported that she listed among the risks “legitimizing Moscow while its bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities.” It quoted her saying fuel prices were rising primarily because of the war in Iran, not the conflict in Ukraine.
Zelensky thanked her on X for “a clear, unequivocal, principled stance.” Russia partly lifted its own diesel export ban on 10 October, allowing 500,000 metric tons to be sold abroad, the same report said.
How the statements connect
Ukrainian officials dated the limits to Tuesday night. Zelensky’s interview, Musk’s post and Fedorov’s account of the partial restoration all followed on Wednesday.
Beskrestnov calls the cut political. Musk says the Starshield decision belongs to the president. Tillis asks whether the cut was unintended. Musk’s answer covers Starshield only: none of the sources quoted here says who decided the commercial Starlink limit.
Zelensky’s two answers sit side by side in one interview. On Musk he said “I’m sure that they knew what they did.” On Trump he said “Our country has to survive.”
What to watch
Fedorov wants the Starshield limit lifted entirely. The White House and the Pentagon have not said on the record who set it. Tillis is waiting on Musk’s confirmation. Meloni spoke ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, and other leaders there may take up her line on the diesel deal. Until one of those arrives, the only decision-maker named in public is the one Musk named.
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