It Has Been Revealed Where The Order To Restrict Starlink Access For Ukraine Came From

• 16.10.2026, 8:36

The order was received by the U.S. Department of Defense.

An order to restrict the operation of the satellite system that Ukraine uses for battlefield communications and drone control came from the White House.

This was reported by Reuters .

According to three sources, the U.S. Department of Defense received a directive from the White House to slow down the provision of SpaceX’s Starshield services to the Ukrainian military.

Officials did not specify exactly who in the White House made this decision or who was responsible for carrying out the order. However, it should be noted that the Pentagon is the largest customer of Starshield, the military version of the Starlink service.

In light of the above information, Reuters sought comment from another unnamed high-ranking official, who denied that U.S. President Donald Trump could have been involved in this order.

“The president never made such a request,” he said.

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

As a reminder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently reported that in recent days the Ukrainian Defense Forces had encountered restrictions on Starlink’s operation. Specifically, the Ukrainian military was unable to operate drones at speeds exceeding 160 km/h.

At the same time, according to the Ministry of Defense, on October 15 the situation regarding the operational restrictions on Starshield (the Starlink military package) in Ukraine had improved.