The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk ordered SpaceX to throttle the speed of Ukraine's Starlink service. According to the paper, the slower connection undercut Ukraine's drone operations on both defense and attack, citing unnamed American officials and other sources.
The Journal also reported that, once the shortfall became public, President Donald Trump and Musk spoke about the Starlink decision. Separately, a person familiar with the matter told the paper that Musk, a Trump ally, had spoken with administration officials about the slowdown before it took effect.
Russia, meanwhile, has been mounting unrelenting strikes across Ukraine, including attacks on civilian targets.
The report comes as energy politics heat up. The Journal noted that Trump has blamed Ukraine for higher diesel prices and demanded Kyiv stop hitting Russian refineries. It also said most of this year's increase in diesel and retail gasoline prices followed the president's decision to carry out strikes with Israel against Iran.
Earlier this month, Trump announced he had reached an agreement with Vladimir Putin to supply diesel to U.S. and global markets. That drew warnings from Ukraine's supporters, including some Republicans, who argued that revenue from Russian energy exports helps fund the war.
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The Pentagon would not comment on the WSJ account. A Defense Department official had previously said there was no change in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
On Capitol Hill, Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, criticized Musk and Trump on CNN for what he described as a pattern of siding with Russia over Ukraine. Senator Adam Schiff urged Congress to open an investigation, saying, "Either the President was lying or Musk was lying, but the decision to slow down satellite speed and access has life or death consequences for Ukraine," adding, "This deserves a full investigation by the Senate. Elon Musk should be compelled to testify before Congress and under oath."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Bloomberg on Sunday that Trump was trying to force Ukraine to give in to Russia. Yet at a news conference in Oslo earlier Tuesday, Zelenskyy struck a more positive tone about ties with the U.S., saying he discussed intelligence sharing and Starlink access with special envoy Steve Witkoff. "We've been very concrete, and the organization was very positive," he said, appearing with leaders from Norway and Finland.
Satcom access is now a real war variable, and this report ties it directly to U.S. politics and energy flows. The Journal's account links this year's run-up in diesel and retail gasoline prices to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, while Trump's separate diesel announcement with Putin rattled pro-Ukraine lawmakers who say Russian energy sales bankroll the conflict. For portfolios exposed to defense, satellites, or fuel-sensitive sectors like transportation and agriculture, the policy path here is the risk to watch.
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