KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Elon Musk said on Saturday that his company SpaceX had throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, disrupting operations that the country relies on to defend itself against Russia.
Musk’s admission on social media came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links has been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted front-line operations for more than a week.
Questions have persisted since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Musk-made satellite internet system that Kyiv has relied on for years to counter Moscow’s attacks.
“The speeds are now where they need to be,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that restoration began overnight and were sufficient by Saturday morning, improving front-line logistics and defense against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones.
Business leaders have always had tremendous power, and I’m sure many on this board are aware of how American business leaders like Kennedy and Ford tried to influence wars past.
But still… holy fuck.
It’s fortunate that Starlink-esque technology is being developed in other places, because this is a monopoly that need to be fucking gone if a single, unstable ketamine addict can unilaterally decide that he’s going to hamstring a whole-ass country.
💯% it’s absolutely one of the big Reasons I’m seriously looking at meshtastic mesh core or Halow. And getting involved with Community networking here in the Kansas City area. The sooner the better. And even if it’s not high bandwidth it’s something.