The Order That Slowed Ukraine's Drones Came From the White House, and Musk and Washington Are Passing the Buck

Nobody wants to put their name to this decision. According to two US officials and one Western official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, the restriction on Starshield - the military version of SpaceX's Starlink, key to communication and control of Ukraine's drones - came directly from the White House. Defence Department leadership was given the message that the service for Ukraine had to be slowed down. Who decided and who carried out the decision - they didn't say.

The effect on the ground was immediate. Ukrainian officials said this week that military receivers stopped working when mounted on fast-moving objects - and that is exactly what a drone is. A source at Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that the receivers now work in motion again, but only up to 160 kilometres per hour.

Zelensky, on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, explained the cost. The interceptor drones Ukraine uses to chase jet-powered Shaheds fly at high speeds, and with the restriction the speed of some systems dropped to around 70 kilometres per hour. "When the speed was reduced, we couldn't intercept some jet Shahed drones. We couldn't use the tool we protect civilians with," he said.

The timing is hardly a coincidence. The restriction came as Donald Trump is pressing Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries, because he believes they push up energy prices and hurt his Republican Party's chances in the congressional elections in November. Experts, however, say prices are being pushed up most by the war the US and Israel are waging against Iran, which has almost closed the Strait of Hormuz.

A senior US official answered the question briefly: "The president never made such a request." The White House didn't say whether anyone else in the administration made it. Elon Musk, for his part, wrote on X that Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government, that the military decides on any restriction, and that the president has the final say. Britain's Telegraph, citing four sources, claims it was Musk who suggested to Trump that he limit the speed, and Trump "agreed." "He posted on X that he's innocent and that the administration did it. The reality is that both were involved," a source told the paper.

The background is darker still. At a meeting in Miami on 9 October, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff reportedly told the Ukrainians that Washington is frustrated by the continued attacks on refineries. The US delegation also defended the deal with Russia for the delivery of over 2.25 million barrels of diesel - a move some US lawmakers say gives Putin money for the war with no concession in return. Zelensky called that deal "weak", and Trump responded with a call for elections in Ukraine and Zelensky's replacement. Behind the scenes, US officials also threatened to cut off intelligence on Russian missile strikes.

For the Balkans the lesson is old, only the technology is new. When your defence depends on a satellite someone else controls, the switch isn't in your hands - and it can be flipped just as Shaheds are flying over you. Ukraine is learning that in real time. Is anyone in the region who dreams of a modern army even counting how many of their buttons sit in someone else's capital?