Lawmakers call for investigation into source of Starlink disruptions in Ukraine

The disruption hampered the country’s ability to defend itself, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that access was still limited. A Ukrainian FP-1 long-range attack drone launches from an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Aug. 16, 2026. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said an order to slow the company’s Starlink service for Ukraine could only have come from the White House, but President Donald Trump said he had not given any such directive. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) A handful of U.S. lawmakers are calling for answers amid reports that Elon Musk ordered a slowdown last week of a military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Musk, the company’s founder and chief executive officer, capped the speeds at which Ukrainian systems could stay connected to the network. The throttling of the service temporarily hampered the country’s ability to defend itself against attacks from Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that access was “still limited.” “We’d like to know exactly who is responsible for what happened,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.. “If it is one man who is dictating our foreign policy, then he puts the United States at enormous risk.” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., suggested that Musk and others may need to go under oath