Elon Musk was responsible for the slowdown of Starlink which restricted the Ukrainian army’s ability to carry out attacks against Russia last week, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
asserted
Journal → restrict → Russia
The satellite terminals are crucial for Kyiv to carry out long-range drone strikes that have disrupted Russian logistics.
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that → carry → logistics
Citing US officials and people familiar with the matter, the WSJ said that Musk and Donald Trump had discussed the decision in a phone call after the outage became public.
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outage → cite → call
The matter was also discussed prior to the decision to restrict Starlink, according to the WSJ.
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matter → discuss → WSJ
According to the publication, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the network, according to the sources, which rendered its offensive and interceptor drones ineffective.
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drones → accord → sources
The Independent has contacted Space X representatives for Elon Musk and the White House for comment.
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Independent → contact → comment
Volodymyr Zelensky had told Piers Morgan Uncensored that he felt betrayed by the decision and that “people would die” as a result.
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people → tell → result
The restrictions had hampered Ukraine’s attack and air defence drone missions against Russia and had led to several failed combat missions last week, an adviser on military technology to Zelensky told The Guardian.
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adviser → hamper → Guardian
Last week, Musk blamed Trump for the limitations on Starlink while Trump said that he did not think either he or the Tesla billionaire were responsible.
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he → blame → Starlink
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government.
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systems → own → government
Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and POTUS,” Musk wrote on X in response to a post by Ukraine’s foreign minister Mykhailo Fedorov saying that the technology was “critical” for the country.
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technology → decide → country
“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX.
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Starlink → own → ?
Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.”
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doing → limit → company
On Tuesday, defence secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that Washington had not pulled back Ukraine's ability to access the network but seemed to imply that the problem rested with corporate terms of service Kyiv needed to comply with.
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Kyiv → insist → service
“We haven't pulled anything back.
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We → pull → anything
There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to, and that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions,” Hegseth said, when asked about Kyiv’s access to the US military's version, known as Starshield.
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Hegseth → be → Starshield
“But nothing's changed from our view.
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nothing → change → view
We haven't made any directives or anything like that.
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We → make → that
And we wish the Ukrainians obviously success.”
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we → wish → success
Poland, which says it pays for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription, hit out at Musk for the decision last week.
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it → say → decision
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.
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Sikorski → play → Wednesday
“As your European customers, we are watching you.”
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we → watch → you
Musk had previously said that “no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals...
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Starlink → say → terminals
We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.”
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We → do → chip
Tensions have been escalating between the US and Ukraine as Trump urged Zelensky to “settle” and insisted that Moscow was willing to get a deal “done”.
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deal → escalate → Zelensky
After reports that Ukraine had had access to intelligence restricted, secretary of state Marco Rubio called the claims “scandalous” and denied them vehemently.
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Rubio → restrict → them
After discussions with special envoy Steve Witkoff organised by Finland and Norway on Tuesday, Zelensky said that the access to intelligence had resumed, saying: "Now it works, it's great.”
He said he was hoping to speak to Rubio within the next 48 hours.
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he → organise → hours
Meanwhile, Witkoff is reportedly due to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
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Witkoff → meet → Tuesday
The Aporia
