United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, refuted Washington’s involvement in the reported disruption of Starlink connectivity in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Rubio explained that Starlink is a commercial product and is not operated by the White House. Addressing the reports of Starshield disruptions, he said that Ukraine currently does not have access to the defence product.
Starshield is controlled by the US government, and Starlink is a commercial service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Rubio said, “Starlink is a commercial (product); they regulate and handle it. Starshield is a defence and military product; that is something that the United States military uses. It is not available to Ukraine, and it is under discussion how they want to use it. I don’t know if Zelenskyy knows what he is talking about. In the United States, nobody ordered Starlink's speed to be slowed down. In my understanding, it has been restored. That is Starlink; they were using Starlink. Starshield is in contract with the US military, and has nothing to do with Ukraine.”
“Ukraine wants access to Starshield… in order to conduct deep strikes inside Russia. They do not have access to it at this moment. I don’t know what their theory is, but it has nothing to do with the White House. I saw a report the other day; it is categorically false. No one at the White House ordered the slowdown of the internet so certain drones couldn’t use it,” he added.
According to CNN, Ukrainian authorities said they were caught off guard by restrictions affecting Starshield, the military-grade satellite communications system owned and controlled by the US government.
Ukrainian forces rely on Starlink to operate reconnaissance and interceptor drones, gather intelligence and conduct other military operations. A Ukrainian military source with direct knowledge of the operational impact told CNN, "The complications are substantial."
Later, Starlink connectivity was being restored, Mykhailo Fedorov, former Minister of Defence of Ukraine, said while calling for the removal of restrictions affecting Starshield.
"Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored. Removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine’s defence. Thank you, Elon Musk. We hope for your continued support," Fedorov posted on X. - ANI
