Illustration: A satellite internet constellation over Earth, in the style of the Starlink network Ukraine's forces rely on. Image: BHG InfoDesk
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, that decisions over Ukraine's access to Starlink belong to Elon Musk's SpaceX, not the White House, pushing back against reports that the Trump administration ordered a slowdown of the satellite network Ukraine's forces depend on for battlefield communications.
Speaking to reporters during his trip to India, Rubio said he was "not aware that we knew about this decision beforehand. But that's irrelevant," according to a Reuters report from Mumbai by correspondent Gram Slattery. "The bottom line is that that is governed by a private commercial contract as to how their stuff can be used and what speeds they'll allow it to be used at," he added. The remarks came on the same trip in which Rubio met India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Mumbai.
Why did the White House deny ordering the Starlink slowdown?
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk personally ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on to defend itself against Russian missile attacks. The Journal cited one source saying Musk, President Donald Trump and White House officials discussed the matter beforehand, and two sources saying Musk and the president discussed it in the days after the slowdown. Reuters later cited two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter who said the decision ultimately came from the White House, a version Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also asserted but the administration denies.
What did Rubio say before about the Starlink slowdown?
The Mumbai comments mark a shift from Saturday, when Rubio, departing for a trip to Uzbekistan and India, said nobody ordered the slowdown. "I'm not sure Zelenskyy knows what he's talking about, but it wasn't deliberate," he said then, adding, "We have nothing to do with that... nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down," and that "it sort of happened, but my understanding is it's been restored." That position drew criticism from lawmakers in both parties. On Tuesday, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth also framed the cutoff as a commercial matter, saying "there are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied with" and that is "where Starlink has the option to make those decisions."
What is the difference between Starlink and Starshield?
Starshield is the military-grade version of Starlink built under contract with the Pentagon. Rubio has suggested Ukraine never had access to Starshield in the first place, while Zelenskiy says both Starlink and Starshield services in Ukraine have been disrupted. Rubio also said Ukraine was seeking access to Starshield for operations inside Russia. The Wall Street Journal reported that the restricted speeds left some Ukrainian offensive and defensive drones effectively unusable. Musk and SpaceX did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Why does the Starlink dispute matter beyond Ukraine?
The fight over who switched the network down is being watched well beyond Kyiv. Nigeria and millions of users across Africa have made Starlink part of the region's connectivity mix, and Nigerian regulators have already clashed with SpaceX over local pricing. Washington's own argument, that wartime connectivity is a private matter governed by a commercial contract, lands as a warning in every capital that assumed a government could direct the network: the company holding the satellites holds the switch.
Frequently asked questions
Did the White House order the Starlink slowdown?
Rubio and Hegseth deny it. Reuters has cited two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter who said the decision ultimately came from the White House; the administration rejects that account.
Who controls Ukraine's Starlink access?
Rubio says SpaceX and Elon Musk do, under a private commercial contract that governs speeds and permitted use.
Has Starlink service to Ukraine been restored?
Rubio said the slowdown "sort of happened" and that his understanding is service has been restored. Zelenskiy says both Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine have been disrupted.
Sources: Reuters (Gram Slattery, Mumbai, October 21, 2026); The Wall Street Journal (October 20, 2026); corroborated by The Times of India and Deccan Chronicle.
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