On October 16, the BBC reported that an unnamed U.S. official said President Donald Trump had not requested the reported slowdown affecting Ukrainian Starlink service. A day earlier, eight senators asked the Pentagon inspector general to investigate reported connectivity disruptions and separate intelligence-sharing problems in Ukraine. The denial concerns whether Trump requested the change; it does not identify who authorized or implemented it.
NeoTeo previously covered Ukrainian reports of restrictions affecting military terminals. The Senate request shifts the focus to oversight and to whether the service disruptions were connected to intelligence issues.
What the senators asked the inspector general to examine
Led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the eight senators—four Republicans and four Democrats—asked the Defense Department’s inspector general to investigate the reported incidents. The inspector general is the department’s oversight office. The senators asked whether U.S. officials or contractors directed, approved or knew in advance about changes to intelligence-sharing, warning capabilities, or Starlink and Starshield services. They also asked whether those changes were connected and whether SpaceX acted independently and consistently with its contracts. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee published the request and letter; The Hill reported the signatories’ party breakdown.
The letter asks whether U.S. personnel, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and Ukrainian authorities received adequate advance notice, and what immediate corrective measures were being taken. It also requests preservation of communications, contractual records, technical directives and correspondence. The senators asked for written confirmation of the investigation’s status and an initial briefing by November 1, 2026.
What Ukrainian accounts say about the service changes
Starlink is SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet service; Starshield is its military-oriented service. In reporting on the letter, The Hill cited two separate figures: Ukrainian military testing reportedly found restrictions above about 63 mph, while a separate reported service restriction applied above 100 mph. Both concern the speed at which terminals were moving, not the internet connection’s data rate.
Separately, the Kyiv Post reported on October 15 that connectivity was improving for terminals moving below about 160 km/h (roughly 100 mph), while the restriction on faster-moving terminals remained. That account described a partial improvement, not a general restoration across all affected terminals. Elon Musk said Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, with speed and usage limits decided by the military and ultimately the president.
