White House ordered Starshield restrictions on Ukraine’s military, Reuters reports

The order to restrict Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite system came from inside the White House, according to two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter.

The officials said Defense Department leaders were told that Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed. They did not identify who inside the White House made the decision or who was responsible for carrying it out.

The restrictions disrupted Ukrainian battlefield communications and drone operations. Ukrainian officials said military-grade receivers stopped working properly when mounted on fast-moving systems, affecting strike missions and interceptor drones used against incoming Russian Shaheds.

By Thursday, the receivers were again working in motion but only at speeds of up to about 100 mph, or 160 km/h.

A senior U.S. official said President Donald Trump had not personally made such a request. The White House did not answer whether another administration official had ordered the restrictions.

The move came as Washington was pressuring Kyiv to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries. Ukrainian officials later sought explanations from senior U.S. officials and were told the decision had come from the White House.