Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources say

The order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter.

The officials said leaders at the Defense Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order. The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service.

Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of ‌Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.

A person in Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that the receptors were now working when in motion, but only at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 kph).

U.S. pressures Ukraine over refinery attacks

The move to temporarily restrict the vital communications system came as President Donald Trump has pressured Kyiv to stop its attacks on Russian refineries, which he has blamed for the soaring energy prices that are denting his Republican Party’s prospects in the November midterm elections.

But experts say that surge in energy costs is mainly the result of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which brought Iranian attacks on energy facilities and has largely shut the vital Strait of Hormuz.

In response to a request for comment about the order to limit Starshield, a senior U.S. official said: “No such request was ever made by the president.”

The White House did not respond to questions about whether other administration officials might have made the request.

Starshield was developed by SpaceX specifically for government and national-security customers, particularly the U.S. Department of Defense. Starshield uses the Starlink constellation as its backbone.

Ukrainian officials said the restrictions complicated strike missions against Russian forces and logistics in occupied territory and slowed interceptor drones used to shoot down incoming Russian Shahed drones.

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, said on X on Wednesday that because Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government, any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military or the president.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

The Department of Defense and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington also did not respond to requests for comment.

Decline in relations

Relations between Kyiv and Washington have deteriorated in recent days following a meeting in Miami on Oct. 9 that convened representatives from both countries as well as Europe and the World Bank.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, struck a tough tone with Ukraine in the meeting, according to a separate person familiar with the matter. They told Ukrainian officials that the U.S. was frustrated with Kyiv’s continued strikes on Russian refineries despite repeated requests from Washington to stop.

The U.S. delegation also explained Washington’s decision to strike a diesel deal with Russia, saying the White House hoped it would soften Moscow’s stance on peace talks.

That deal, under which Russia will supply more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel to ​U.S. and global markets, has triggered a backlash from some U.S. lawmakers, who say it will give Moscow cash to pursue its war without forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to make concessions to end the conflict.

In the days that followed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump criticized each other, with Zelenskiy calling the U.S. decision on the Russian diesel deal “weak.” Trump called for elections in Ukraine and Zelenskiy’s ouster.

Behind the scenes, American officials threatened to stop providing intelligence to Kyiv about Russian missile launches that Ukraine uses to thwart attacks, as Reuters previously reported. Trump said on Tuesday Washington was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

Following the move to restrict Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the Ukrainians made calls on Tuesday and Wednesday to find answers from senior officials at the White House, State Department and Pentagon, a senior Ukrainian official said, adding that Kyiv was told it was a White House decision.

The Pentagon has spent billions of dollars on the Starlink and Starshield services. It has also bought dedicated Starshield satellites, including communications spacecraft ​for missile-warning missions and a spy ​constellation for the National Reconnaissance ⁠Office, Reuters reported in 2024.

据两名美国官员和一名了解此事的西方官员透露，限制乌克兰用于战场通信和无人机作战的卫星系统的命令来自白宫内部。

官员们表示，国防部领导层收到消息，需要放慢SpaceX为乌克兰军方提供的“星盾”服务速度。

这些不愿透露姓名的官员没有具体说明白宫是谁做出了这项决定，也没有说明是谁负责执行这项命令。五角大楼是“星盾”（Starshield）的最大客户，“星盾”是“星链”（Starlink）服务的军用版本。

乌克兰官员本周表示，军用级星链接收器在乌克兰境内安装在快速移动的物体上时停止工作，干扰了依赖这些接收器作为机载制导系统的乌克兰无人机在乌克兰领土上的性能。

乌克兰国防部一名人士周四表示，这些接收器现在在运动时可以工作，但速度最高只能达到每小时 100 英里（160 公里）。

美国就炼油厂袭击事件向乌克兰施压

在唐纳德·特朗普总统向基辅施压，要求其停止对俄罗斯炼油厂的袭击之际，俄罗斯政府采取了暂时限制这一重要通信系统的举措。特朗普指责俄罗斯的袭击导致能源价格飙升，损害了共和党在11月中期选举中的前景。

但专家表示，能源成本飙升主要是由于美以对伊战争造成的，这场战争导致伊朗袭击能源设施，并基本关闭了至关重要的霍尔木兹海峡。

针对有关限制“星盾”命令的置评请求，一位美国高级官员表示：“总统从未提出过这样的要求。”

白宫没有回应关于其他政府官员是否可能提出过类似要求的提问。

Starshield是SpaceX专门为政府和国家安全客户，特别是美国国防部开发的。Starshield以Starlink星座作为其骨干网络。

乌克兰官员表示，这些限制措施使对被占领土上的俄罗斯军队和后勤力量的打击任务变得复杂，并减缓了用于击落来袭的俄罗斯“沙赫德”无人机的拦截无人机的速度。

SpaceX 首席执行官埃隆·马斯克周三在 X 频道表示，由于 Starshield 系统由美国政府拥有和控制，因此对速度或使用的任何限制都由美国军方或总统决定。

SpaceX公司未回应置评请求。

美国国防部和乌克兰驻华盛顿大使馆也未回应置评请求。

关系恶化

10 月 9 日在迈阿密举行的一次会议召集了基辅和华盛顿以及欧洲和世界银行的代表，此后基辅和华盛顿之间的关系在最近几天恶化。

据另一位知情人士透露，特朗普的女婿贾里德·库什纳和特朗普政府的中东特使史蒂夫·威特科夫在会晤中对乌克兰采取了强硬态度。他们告诉乌克兰官员，尽管华盛顿多次要求基辅停止袭击俄罗斯炼油厂，但基辅仍继续进行袭击，这令美国感到不满。

美国代表团还解释了华盛顿决定与俄罗斯达成柴油协议的原因，称白宫希望此举能够软化莫斯科在和平谈判中的立场。

根据这项协议，俄罗斯将向美国和全球市场供应超过 225 万桶柴油，这引发了一些美国议员的强烈反对，他们认为这将给莫斯科提供资金，使其能够继续发动战争，而不会迫使俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京做出让步来结束冲突。

在接下来的几天里，乌克兰总统泽连斯基和特朗普互相指责，泽连斯基称美国在俄罗斯柴油交易问题上的决定“软弱”。特朗普则呼吁在乌克兰举行选举，并要求泽连斯基下台。

据路透社此前报道，美国官员私下威胁要停止向基辅提供有关俄罗斯导弹发射的情报，而乌克兰正是利用这些情报来挫败俄罗斯的袭击。特朗普周二表示，华盛顿仍在与乌克兰分享情报。

一位乌克兰高级官员表示，在限制乌克兰获取“星盾”保险的举措之后，乌克兰方面于周二和周三致电白宫、国务院和五角大楼的高级官员，寻求答案。他还补充说，基辅方面被告知这是白宫的决定。

据路透社2024年报道，五角大楼已在星链和星盾服务上花费了数十亿美元。它还购买了专用的星盾卫星，包括用于导弹预警任务的通信卫星和为国家侦察局建造的间谍星座。