As Ukraine’s military claims that satellite communication disruptions hindered its drone operations, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied suspicions of U.S. government involvement. He also said the service used by Ukraine was the commercial “Starlink,” not the U.S. military’s “Starshield.”
Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State./Courtesy of Yonhap News
On the 17th local time, according to the Associated Press and others, Minister Rubio told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C., “No one at the White House ordered a slowdown.” He also rebutted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claim that the disruption was intentional, saying, “It was not intentional.” He added that he received a report on the 15th that Starlink was operating normally again.
Rubio also stressed the need to distinguish between Starlink and Starshield. “Starshield is a U.S. military product and a completely different product from Starlink,” he said, adding, “It has nothing to do with Ukraine.” He said Ukraine requested access to the U.S. military’s Starshield to strike deep inside Russia, but it currently has no access, and related discussions are underway.
Earlier, on the 16th, Reuters reported, citing U.S. and Western officials, that an internal White House directive called for restricting satellite communications used for Ukraine’s battlefield communications and drone operations. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, also said on the 14th that the speed and usage limits of Starshield are decided by the U.S. military and, ultimately, the U.S. president.
Ukraine’s military has used satellite communications for drone strikes targeting Russian facilities and for intercepting Russian drones. When some terminals recently lost connections or slowed down, the Ukrainian side protested that the military operations were being hampered.
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