The big questions about who’s to blame for Starshield disruptions in Ukraine

Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty Images

So, who slowed down a crucial satellite communications system used by Ukraine, making the country more vulnerable to Russian attacks in recent days?

Even some key Republicans are demanding answers and promising consequences for those responsible.

But the Trump administration and its top ally, Elon Musk, have so far offered a confusing, incomplete and sometimes contradictory set of answers.

The administration has disowned responsibility, but the disruption came right as Trump sharply turned away from Ukraine and toward Russia in its yearslong war. And Musk seemed to repeatedly point the finger toward Trump last week.

The controversy began a week ago when Ukraine accused Musk’s SpaceX of severely hindering its defense by suddenly limiting its Starlink internet service, which uses satellites in low orbit. Ukraine has used Starlink and a related military-grade service, Starshield , to communicate quickly and to both launch and prevent drone attacks.

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(Ukraine has also accused the Trump administration of limiting intelligence-sharing about impending Russian attacks — a charge the US government denies.)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pointed at the Trump administration.

Reuters also reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources, that the White House sent a message to the Defense Department to slow down the Starshield system. CNN has not confirmed that reporting. Multiple sources told CNN that the direction didn’t come from Trump, who also denied being involved.

Zelensky pointed at the White House during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. He said: “Of course the message came from government,” while adding that SpaceX carried out the order.

The next day, Zelensky sought to emphasize the price of such limitations by posting a blurred image of a child he said was killed by a Russian Shahed drone.

And Musk also seemed to gesture in the US government’s direction on Wednesday. Responding to Ukraine’s former defense minister on X, Musk emphasized that Starshield was “owned and controlled by the US government.”

“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk said .

When another X user claimed, alongside a series of claims, that “Starshield is under U.S. government control. That is who made last night’s call,” Musk responded: “ True .”

(SpaceX has not responded to a question from CNN about whether Musk was explicitly confirming Trump and his administration were responsible for the Starshield slowdown. And his comments could seemingly have some wiggle room, which we’ll get to.)

But the Trump administration has denied involvement and even at times questioned whether there was a disruption.

Trump said flatly on Friday, “I didn’t do that.” He added: “I don’t know if it was anybody, because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon.”

On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Zelensky didn’t know “what he’s talking about” and called reports of a White House role in the Starlink disruptions “ categorically false .”

“Nothing to do with the White House,” Rubio said, adding: “No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet or slow down speed so that certain drones couldn’t use it.”

Trump signaled Monday that he still didn’t know who was responsible.

“I don’t know who it was, but I’d like to find out,” he said.

But some of these comments are difficult to reconcile.

Trump on Friday also seemed to question whether there even was a slowdown. He said he didn’t “even think it was slowed down,” and that “I think it’s probably functioning.”

“They say it’s the same as it always has been,” Trump added.

Rubio in his comments Friday also claimed that Starshield — which is, again, the military-grade version of Starlink — was “not at this moment available to Ukraine” and “has nothing to do with Ukraine.” But Bloomberg reported two years ago that Ukraine had been given access to Starshield . And in comments Monday in Uzbekistan, Rubio confirmed that “ Ukraine has benefited from it .”

Musk’s comments are also somewhat confusing. While he seemed to point at the administration and Trump for any Starshield decisions, he added that Starlink — the civilian version — “cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.” That could be read to suggest there was a dispute about Ukraine’s use of Starlink, as well.

Also, two senior US officials have told CNN that the Starshield order did not come from Trump.

It’s worth emphasizing that this episode didn’t happen in a vacuum. It comes amid multiple signs of Trump moving away from Ukraine and increasingly cozying up to Russia.

Trump has taken to blaming Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries for high diesel prices (despite compelling evidence that the Iran war is the main culprit for the prices ). He has also recently delayed major new sanctions on Russia . And he sought to import Russian diesel , while upping the pressure on Ukraine to concede more to Moscow to end the war, which began with Russia’s unprovoked invasion in 2022.

The Starlink controversy also comes as Ukraine has accused the administration of withholding vital intelligence-sharing. That’s another charge the Trump administration denies, despite CNN having previously reported that it threatened to do just that .

Musk’s decision to at least gesture toward Trump is also extremely notable, given the SpaceX CEO is a major Trump ally and the biggest benefactor of Trump’s political party in the midterm elections. He’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars for the Republican Party.

Musk could have said Starshield speed decisions are decided by the federal government and stopped there. But he continued by saying, “and ultimately POTUS.” And then he also did the “True” post.

Amid the confusion, some congressional Republicans are demanding answers.

They include retiring Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska and vulnerable Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Fitzpatrick vowed Monday on X that those limiting Starshield “will be fully investigated and will be held fully accountable.” He also promised congressional hearings and “immediate harsh and punitive budget cuts to any responsible agency or agency head.”

Outgoing Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas have also joined with Democrats to demand accountability, with Tillis calling it either “an unacceptable error or lapse” or a conscious “decision to clear the field for a Russian attack.”

Answers may not be imminent, but this controversy could return to the fore should Democrats control one or both chambers of Congress come January.

德米特罗·斯莫连科/Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty Images

那么，究竟是谁减缓了乌克兰使用的关键卫星通信系统的速度，使得该国在最近几天更容易受到俄罗斯的攻击？

甚至一些重要的共和党人也要求给出解释，并承诺追究相关责任人的责任。

但到目前为止，特朗普政府及其头号盟友埃隆·马斯克给出的答案令人困惑、不完整，有时甚至自相矛盾。

美国政府否认对此负有责任，但此次事件发生之际，正值特朗普在与俄罗斯长达数年的战争中，态度急剧转变，从乌克兰转向俄罗斯。而马斯克上周似乎也多次将矛头指向特朗普。

这场争议始于一周前，当时乌克兰指责马斯克的SpaceX公司突然限制其星链互联网服务，严重阻碍了其国防。星链服务利用低轨道卫星运行。乌克兰一直使用星链及其相关的军用级服务星盾（Starshield）进行快速通信，并用于发起和阻止无人机袭击。

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（乌克兰还指责特朗普政府限制了有关俄罗斯即将发动袭击的情报共享——美国政府否认了这一指控。）

乌克兰总统泽连斯基将矛头指向了特朗普政府。

路透社周四援引匿名消息人士的话报道称，白宫已向国防部发出指示，要求放缓“星盾”系统的部署。CNN尚未证实该报道。多位消息人士告诉CNN，这一指示并非来自特朗普，特朗普本人也否认参与其中。

泽连斯基周日在接受NBC“会见媒体”节目采访时，指着白宫说：“当然，指令来自政府，”他还补充说，SpaceX执行了这项指令。

第二天，泽连斯基发布了一张模糊不清的照片，照片中的一名儿童被俄罗斯“沙赫德”无人机炸死，以此强调此类限制的代价。

周三，马斯克似乎也向美国政府发出了信号。在回应乌克兰前国防部长关于X的问题时，马斯克强调，星盾公司“由美国政府拥有和控制”。

马斯克说：“任何速度或使用限制都由美国军方决定，最终由美国总统决定。”

当另一位 X 用户声称（并附有一系列说法）“星盾公司受美国政府控制。昨晚的电话就是他们打的”时，马斯克回应道：“没错。”

（SpaceX尚未回应CNN关于马斯克是否明确证实特朗普及其政府应对“星盾”计划放缓负责的问题。而且他的言论似乎还有一些回旋余地，我们稍后会谈到这一点。）

但特朗普政府否认参与其中，甚至有时质疑是否存在干扰行为。

特朗普周五断然表示：“我没做那件事。”他补充说：“我不知道是谁做的，因为不是我，而且我认为也不是埃隆做的。”

周六，国务卿马可·卢比奥暗示泽连斯基“不知道自己在说什么”，并称有关白宫参与星链中断的报道“完全是错误的”。

鲁比奥说：“这与白宫无关。”他还补充道：“白宫没有人下令降低互联网速度，以阻止某些无人机使用互联网。”

特朗普周一表示，他仍然不知道是谁干的。

“我不知道是谁，但我很想弄清楚，”他说。

但其中一些评论很难自圆其说。

特朗普周五似乎也质疑经济是否真的放缓了。他说他“甚至不认为经济放缓了”，而且“我认为经济可能仍在正常运转”。

“他们说情况和以前一样，”特朗普补充道。

鲁比奥周五在讲话中还声称，星盾（Starshield，即星链的军用版本）“目前乌克兰无法使用”，并且“与乌克兰无关”。但彭博社两年前报道称，乌克兰当时已经可以使用星盾。周一在乌兹别克斯坦发表讲话时，鲁比奥也证实“乌克兰已经从中受益”。

马斯克的言论也有些令人费解。虽然他似乎将“星盾计划”的任何决定都归咎于美国政府和特朗普，但他又补充说，星链——民用版——“不能用于进攻性军事行动，因为这样做对一家商业公司来说是不合适的”。这或许暗示着，乌克兰使用星链也存在争议。

此外，两名美国高级官员告诉 CNN，星盾行动的命令并非来自特朗普。

值得强调的是，这一事件并非孤立发生。它发生在特朗普逐渐疏远乌克兰、与俄罗斯关系日益密切的诸多迹象之下。

特朗普将柴油价格高企归咎于乌克兰对俄罗斯炼油厂的袭击（尽管有确凿证据表明，伊朗战争才是油价高企的主要原因）。他最近还推迟了对俄罗斯实施新的重大制裁。此外，他还试图进口俄罗斯柴油，同时加大对乌克兰的施压，迫使其向莫斯科做出更多让步以结束这场始于2022年俄罗斯无端入侵的战争。

在星链争议爆发之际，乌克兰指责美国政府扣留了至关重要的情报共享信息。尽管CNN此前报道称，特朗普政府曾威胁要这样做，但特朗普政府否认了这一指控。

考虑到SpaceX首席执行官马斯克是特朗普的重要盟友，也是特朗普所在政党在中期选举中的最大捐助者，他至少向特朗普示好这一举动也格外引人注目。他已经为共和党花费了数亿美元。

马斯克本可以说“星盾行动的速度决定由联邦政府做出”，然后就此打住。但他接着说，“最终由美国总统决定”。然后，他还发了那条“True”的帖子。

在一片混乱之中，一些国会共和党人要求得到答案。

其中包括即将退休的内布拉斯加州众议员唐·培根和处境岌岌可危的宾夕法尼亚州众议员迈克·菲茨帕特里克。菲茨帕特里克周一在X网站上誓言，任何限制“星盾计划”（Starshield）的人“都将受到全面调查，并被追究全部责任”。他还承诺将举行国会听证会，并“立即对任何负有责任的机构或机构负责人进行严厉的惩罚性预算削减”。

即将卸任的北卡罗来纳州参议员汤姆·蒂利斯和德克萨斯州参议员约翰·科宁也与民主党人一起要求追究责任，蒂利斯称这要么是“不可接受的错误或疏忽”，要么是“为俄罗斯发动攻击而做出的蓄意决定”。

答案或许不会很快揭晓，但如果民主党在明年一月控制国会参众两院之一，这场争议可能会再次成为焦点。