US billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk has commented on restrictions on access to Starlink, claiming that the Ukrainian military had violated the terms of use for this type of communications system. He also said that if Starlink were switched off, " the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately ".
Source: Musk on X (Twitter)
Quote: " Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be… Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week. "
Details: Musk said that Starshield is a separate system controlled by the US government. " What they decide to do is up to them ," he wrote.
" Starlink remains critical to the defence of Ukraine, as it is the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now. Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact ," Musk said.
In his view, Starlink was also crucial in preventing Russia from occupying Ukraine in the early stages of the war, as Russia had destroyed or jammed all other means of communication.
Quote: " SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR. That said, I have nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signalling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict. May you burn in hell. "
Details: Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that restrictions on Starlink and Starshield had been lifted as of the morning of 24 October and thanked everyone who had helped restore communications in Ukraine.
Previously: On 21 October, after reports of the speed reduction became public, Musk wrote : " Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS ." Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had ordered the speed of the military version of Starlink to be reduced in Ukraine, leaving some Ukrainian attack and interceptor drones practically unusable. On 22 October, the WSJ reported that US President Donald Trump had called Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on the military version of Starlink in Ukraine.
Background: On 19 October, Zelenskyy said that Starlink and Starshield equipment had stopped working at speeds of 130-161 km/h in various sectors of the line of contact, disrupting logistics and limiting Ukraine's use of drones. On 16 October, Trump claimed that the White House had not been involved in restricting Ukraine's use of the system. Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that Musk had approached Trump with the idea of restricting the bandwidth of the Starlink and Starshield satellite networks used by the Ukrainian military.
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