Ukraine rejected Elon Musk's accusation that its military violated Starlink's terms by using the commercial satellite service for offensive drone attacks, prolonging a dispute over restrictions that disrupted battlefield operations before connectivity was restored.
Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Sunday that geographic and speed restrictions prevented commercial Starlink from supporting the longer-range missions Musk had criticized.
"It is very strange that Elon Musk is unaware of the operational limitations of Starlink in Ukraine," Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram.
He said the service does not operate over Russian territory and faces speed limits as low as 70 kilometers an hour within Ukraine, including Russian-occupied areas. Those restrictions, he argued, make it unsuitable for the fast-moving drones used in such attacks.
"Consequently, it is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for us to use commercial Starlink for deep-strike or medium-range strike operations," he wrote.
Musk had said Saturday that Ukraine violated the service's rules and that a loophole had been closed earlier this month.
"Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," he wrote.
The disagreement turns partly on the distinction between commercial Starlink and Starshield, its military-focused counterpart. Ukrainian officials said restrictions affected Starshield, hampering attacks on Russian logistics facilities, ammunition depots and command centers as far as 125 miles from the front, along with air-defense operations.
Ukraine primarily uses ordinary Starlink connections for communications and data transfers, Newsweek reported. SpaceX describes Starshield as using Starlink technology for national-security purposes, with additional encryption for government requirements.
Ukrainian officials said over the weekend that satellite services were functioning normally again after days of disruption. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that President Donald Trump had called Musk to restore access, although Kyiv initially said some restrictions remained.
Responsibility for imposing the limits remains disputed. Musk has maintained that Washington controls Starshield access, while administration officials have denied ordering the changes.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said neither Trump nor anyone else in the administration had requested alterations to the system. Trump previously said he did not believe either he or Musk had initiated the restrictions, while promising to address further connectivity problems.
Musk defended SpaceX's contribution to Ukraine and warned about its dependence on the network.
"Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately," he wrote. "This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact."
That was Musk's assessment, rather than an independently established forecast. Newsweek reported that Ukraine currently has no practical substitute for the services and had contacted SpaceX for comment.
The dispute also follows Ukrainian complaints that American intelligence warnings about incoming Russian ballistic missiles had stopped arriving. Washington denied restricting those intelligence flows.
Fighting continued as three-way negotiations involving Washington, Kyiv and Moscow were expected to resume next month. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 140 drones and four missiles overnight into Monday.
Asked Monday about drone attacks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said restarting peace negotiations "does not imply any restrictions on military action."
