“Utter Contempt”: Musk Tells Ukraine War Hawks to “Burn in Hell” Over Starlink Drone Strike Dispute
Elon Musk is not holding back in a dispute over how Starlink is being used in Ukraine, firing back Saturday at critics of SpaceX’s decision to restrict certain satellite communications capabilities used by Ukrainian forces, and saving his harshest words for those pushing SpaceX to help escalate the drawn-out war.
The controversy intensified after CNBC reported Friday that Ukrainian officials were still facing restrictions on Starlink and Starshield that were disrupting drone operations against Russian forces. According to the report, drones traveling faster than roughly 100 miles per hour were losing connectivity. The Wall Street Journal had reported that President Trump spoke to Musk by phone about lifting the restrictions, but on Friday Trump insisted he had not spoken with Musk and said service had been restored, telling reporters, “I’ve heard it was fixed. But if it’s not, I’ll speak to him.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X that the speed limits on Starlink and Starshield “are still there” and that “the speed has not been restored.” He also said Ukraine is still waiting on U.S. missile interceptors “that were already agreed on,” adding that things have become harder “partly because of the Starlink and Starshield policies and speed limits.”
Musk responded by drawing a sharp line between the two systems. “Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” he wrote, noting that Starshield is a different system controlled by the U.S. government. SpaceX’s terms of service state that ordinary Starlink equipment is not intended for use with weaponry, and its acceptable-use policy bars remotely operating drones without contractual authorization. Musk said Ukraine’s military “violated Starlink terms of service” and that the “loophole was closed last week.”
At the same time, Musk stressed that Starlink “remains critical to the defense of Ukraine” because it cannot be jammed or blown up, and warned that if it were turned off, “the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately,” calling that “simply a statement of fact.” He added that Starlink helped keep Russia from overrunning Ukraine early in the war and that SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine “than any private company on Earth BY FAR.”
Then he unloaded on his critics, writing that he has “UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict. May you burn in hell. End of story.”
According to Reuters, Ukrainian officials said Saturday that Starlink and Starshield were once again operating at their previous speeds, with Zelensky saying the restoration began overnight and defense officials reporting connections working at speeds above 400 kilometers per hour.
The clash comes as Zelensky has signaled he has no intention of ending the war without defeating Russia. Musk previously posted that it was “Time for Zelensky to go,” and has argued that war funding has created perverse incentives, writing that there is “a massive incentive difference between the elites and the people” in Ukraine: the elites have grown rich off the hundreds of billions flowing into the country, while ordinary people’s children “are conscripted to die in trenches.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also pushed back on Ukrainian officials, saying, “No country in the world has done more to help Ukraine over the last four and a half years” than the United States.
