Elon Musk's Dust-up With Ukraine on Starlink Isn't Over Yet
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Ukrainian troops deploy a Starlink terminal on the battlefield. Kyiv is allowed to use the civilian service for communications needs, but not for drone strikes, for which it relies on Starshield.
Dmytro Smolienko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Oct 26, 2026, 8:28 AM GMT+1
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Ukraine claimed its access to Starshield was restored this weekend, but Elon Musk isn't finished with Kyiv yet.
In a X post on Sunday, Musk accused Ukrainian forces of breaching Starlink's terms of service by using the civilian platform in drone attacks.
"Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,"* wrote the SpaceX owner.
"Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,"* he added.
Musk made it clear he was talking about the civilian platform and not Starshield, the military version of the satellite communications service owned and controlled by the US government.
"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 added.
Ukrainian drone advisors hit back
Two prominent Ukrainian drone figures, however, disputed Musk's statement, saying that it was technically impossible for any of Kyiv's troops to have independently used Starlink in drone strikes.
"As someone who was inside the process at the Ministry of Defense, I can say for sure that this is not true,"* wrote Serhii Sternenko, a former advisor for drones to Ukraine's defense ministry, on his Telegram channel.
"It is very strange that Elon Musk does not know about the restrictions on Starlink operation in Ukraine,"* wrote Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, another former advisor.