Pentagon watchdog declines to investigate Starlink outages in Ukraine – Meduza

Pentagon watchdog declines to investigate Starlink outages in Ukraine  Meduza

The Pentagon’s inspector general’s office declined a request from nine senators to investigate outages in Starlink and its military version, Starshield, in Ukraine, the Associated Press and CNN reported. The Pentagon’s inspector general’s office declined a request from nine senators to investigate outages in Starlink and its military version, Starshield, in Ukraine, the Associated Press and CNN reported. The inspector general’s office told the senators, four Republicans and five Democrats, that the questions would be better directed to the U.S. Air Force and Space Force. “It is concerning that the Inspector General has apparently decided not to investigate satellite communication disruptions that Ukraine relies on to protect its civilians,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the co-authors of the request.

An anonymous aide to a U.S. member of Congress familiar with the situation told AP that the Pentagon’s inspector general is effectively refusing to investigate the activities of Musk and Starlink, “despite being well-positioned to do so.” In mid-October, Ukrainian military officials said they were encountering restrictions on Starlink satellite communications — or, more precisely, on its military version, Starshield. Connectivity dropped when drones exceeded speeds of 160 kilometers per hour (99 mph). Donald Trump said he had not ordered restrictions on Starshield service in Ukraine and did not know