Ukraine: Poland's foreign minister attacks Musk over Starlink throttling: "Are you playing politics with your products again?"

Warsaw. The Ukrainian government has warned that the Starlink satellite network will stop working once its drones reach a certain speed. Starlink internet access was restricted without warning, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday. This disrupted several military operations.

“I confirm that SpaceX implemented speed limits on Starlink terminals while they were in motion last night,” wrote consultant Serhii Beskrestnov on the messaging service Telegram. Starlink is operated by Elon Musk's US company SpaceX.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski then sharply attacked Musk on Wednesday. “Hey, Elon Musk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” he wrote on X. “We as your European customers are watching you.”

Zelensky's advisor Beskrestnov also suspected a political background. “This action cannot be a coincidence and is related to the current political situation,” he wrote.

Both apparently assume that Musk throttled Starlink in response to Trump's recent criticism of Zelensky. The US President had called on Zelensky to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump is under great pressure before the congressional elections in November because of high fuel prices at US gas stations. To distract from the fact that high oil prices were caused by his war in Iran, he blames Ukraine. After Trump's attack on Zelensky, Musk also posted that the Ukrainian president had gone "too far" with his attacks on Russian oil refineries.

According to Zelensky's advisor Beskrestnov, the maximum speed in the Starlink military package "Star Shield" was limited to 160 kilometers per hour. Many Ukrainian drones are equipped with Starlink terminals and use satellite internet for navigation. They usually fly faster than 160 kilometers per hour.

The restrictions affect both attack drones and interceptor drones. Ukraine is therefore hindered in its attacks on Russian targets behind the front and the shooting down of Russian drones. The Seventh Rapid Reaction Corps of the Ukrainian Air Force said on social media that the consequences were being felt on the battlefield. One of his drone units had to cancel several operations.

On Monday and Tuesday evening, several Russian ballistic missiles also hit Kiev before the air alarm sounded. Zelensky said Ukraine had not received any advance warning from Western partners as usual. This sparked speculation that the US would no longer pass on intelligence data. However, the US government has denied this.

The Ukrainian activist Olena Tregub from the Nako organization commented with sarcasm on the supposed sanctions by the Americans against Ukraine. “I think it would be fair if Trump simply bombed Ukraine to force them to surrender to Russia,” she wrote on X. “It would be more honest than just quietly damaging Ukraine’s defenses.”