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Trump says 'it doesn't matter' who throttled Ukraine's Starshield system and reveals Musk has 'put it back on'

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Cite

Garfinkel, I. (2026, October 23). Trump says 'it doesn't matter' who throttled Ukraine's Starshield system and reveals Musk has 'put it back on'. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16232193/Trump-says-doesnt-matter-throttled-Ukraines-Starshield-reveals-Musk-on.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-23 · by Imogen Garfinkel

Quick Summary

Donald Trump revealed on Thursday that Elon Musk had restored Ukraine's Starshield military communications system, which was previously throttled by SpaceX under unclear circumstances. The president stated it "doesn't matter" who restricted the service earlier but acknowledged that Musk had put it back into operation after a reported conversation with him or others in his administration. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported on restrictions placed on Ukrainian access to Starshield, affecting drone operations against Russian forces.
Written by AI on 2026-10-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 27, 2026, Ukraine experienced a significant disruption in its access to Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite internet service, which coincided with an increase in Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian territory. The disruption followed President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, causing Ukraine to accuse the U.S. of undermining its defense capabilities. Photos from the scene showed that Starlink was down during a fatal strike that killed Yulia Spichak, a 34-year-old makeup artist in Kharkiv. Musk initially blamed Ukraine for violating Starlink’s terms by using it for attacks on Russia but later said any changes would have needed approval from the Pentagon, implicating Trump indirectly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that speed restrictions imposed on Starshield, a military branch of Starlink controlled by the Pentagon, were disrupting early warning air defense systems. This incident has raised concerns among European allies about over-reliance on U.S. technology for national security, prompting discussions to seek alternatives.

Written for “Ukraine Disputes Musk's Starlink Claims” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 63 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Ukraine Disputes Musk's Starlink Claims
Politics · 64 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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The Straits Times
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October 22, 2026 Same event
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The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 2 of 9 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 44 claims Outlet record 64/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 2 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of a situation involving Ukraine and US support, but they report on distinct events occurring at different times.”
BBC News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 2 of 21 claims Outlet record 68/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
32
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
2 of 32 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
64
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8872 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Imogen Garfinkel
47 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 The Journal reported earlier this week that Musk had capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, making some of Kyiv's drones useless.
🔮 Trump sought to strike an optimistic tone after US envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting with Putin on Wednesday, saying negotiators were 'maybe now the closest we've been' to ending the war.
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Also by Imogen Garfinkel
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 47 articles by Imogen Garfinkel →

Topics

Kyiv Starlink Starshield Ukraine Ukrainian

Subjects

Ukraine GPE · 11× Russia GPE · 6× Trump PERSON · 6× Kyiv GPE · 5× Ukrainian NORP · 5× Musk PERSON · 4× Russian NORP · 4× Starlink ORG · 4× Moscow GPE · 3× Putin PERSON · 3×

Narrative

The Starshield military communications system is 'back' on in Ukraine, Donald Trump revealed on Thursday The Wall Street Journal reported the US president asked tech billionaire Elon Musk to restore the service in Ukraine Ukrainian firefighters work at the site of a shopping centre damaged following a missile strike in Kyiv on October 22, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukraine uses Starshield, Starlink's military-grade satellite service, as well as SpaceX's parallel Starlink civilian satellite system. Restricting the satellite service hampered the country's attack and air defence drone missions against Moscow.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 The Journal reported earlier this week that Musk had capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, making some of Kyiv's drones useless.

Claims (32 extracted, 2 hedged)

The Starshield military communications system is 'back' on in Ukraine, Donald Trump revealed on Thursday. asserted
Trump → reveal → Thursday
The US president added that it 'doesn't make any difference' who throttled the satellite service in the first place, which Kyiv uses for its battlefield communications, mid-range strikes on Russia-occupied territory, and its interceptor drones. asserted
Kyiv → add → territory
It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported the US president asked tech billionaire Elon Musk to restore the vital service. asserted
president → come → service
'I don't want to comment on it, you know, whether I called or whether somebody else called - doesn't make any difference,' Trump told journalists when asked about the report. asserted
Trump → want → report
'I guess the bottom line, he put it back,' Trump said, referring to Musk. asserted
Trump → guess → Musk
The Journal reported earlier this week that Musk had capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, making some of Kyiv's drones useless. uncertain
some → report → drones
Musk had previously said that 'any limits on speed or usage' of Starshield systems - which are operated by his SpaceX company - were 'decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,' referring to Trump. But Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, and Trump said last week he did not do so either. asserted
he → say → Starshield
The Starshield military communications system is 'back' on in Ukraine, Donald Trump revealed on Thursday The Wall Street Journal reported the US president asked tech billionaire Elon Musk to restore the service in Ukraine Ukrainian firefighters work at the site of a shopping centre damaged following a missile strike in Kyiv on October 22, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukraine uses Starshield, Starlink's military-grade satellite service, as well as SpaceX's parallel Starlink civilian satellite system. Restricting the satellite service hampered the country's attack and air defence drone missions against Moscow. asserted
Restricting → reveal → Moscow
The Starlink system was working more normally on Thursday, shortly after the Trump-Musk conversation, the Journal reported earlier, citing US and Ukrainian officials. Some Ukrainian officials told the newspaper the system had not been restored to full functionality but was working at higher speeds than under the cap. asserted
system → work → cap
Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Thursday that speed on Starlink systems had not been restored for Ukraine, adding that he hoped for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the coming days. asserted
he → say → days
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have been increasingly tense in recent days, with Trump calling for the Ukrainian president to be replaced after he criticised a US deal allowing more Russian diesel into global markets. asserted
he → call → markets
Russia pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles and Ukraine sent hundreds of drones towards Moscow on Thursday, as the warring sides kept up a barrage of attacks despite the latest US push to end the conflict. asserted
sides → pound → conflict
Putin has said that future talks on a settlement of the war in Ukraine should focus on security guarantees for both countries and an overall framework for security throughout Europe. asserted
talks → say → Europe
Putin, interviewed on Russian television a day after meeting US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, confirmed that Russia was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month. asserted
Russia → interview → Ukraine
He restated longstanding Kremlin policy that Russia never wanted to launch a war, but had run into hostile reactions from Ukraine on key issues of concern to Moscow. asserted
Russia → restate → Moscow
Talks on a variety of matters could lead to a positive outcome, he said, but Russia remained intent on a solution ending the conflict rather than a short-lived ceasefire. uncertain
Russia → lead → conflict
'The goal of these talks will be to ensure the security of Ukraine and Russia after reaching peace agreements, in their final form, not as a result of a temporary ceasefire for some short period of time. asserted
goal → ensure → time
We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal,' Putin said. asserted
Putin → resume → goal
The Russian president said Witkoff also stressed that discussions had to extend to 'the architecture of European security as a whole. asserted
discussions → say → whole
And I agree with that too. asserted
I → agree → that
Well, let's see how things develop in the coming days. asserted
things → let → days
Zelensky, who met Witkoff in Norway on Tuesday, said Ukraine was ready for talks likely to take place by early next month. asserted
Ukraine → meet → month
Ukraine, he said, supported 'any proposals for a ceasefire, an end to the war, an energy ceasefire as well as humanitarian initiatives'. asserted
he → say → war
Efforts headed by the United States to pursue talks stalled in February with the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. asserted
Efforts → head → Iran
Many of the Ukraine war issues focus on territory, with Russia demanding Ukraine cede all of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. asserted
Ukraine → focus → region
Kyiv rejects any notion of giving up land it currently holds. asserted
it → reject → land
In his comments, Putin said any discussion on territory in eastern Ukraine had to consider what he said was the fact that the area was 'historically Russian land'. asserted
area → say → Ukraine
And residents there, he said, had voted to be a part of Russia in referendums staged seven months after Moscow launched its invasion. asserted
Moscow → say → invasion
It’s the territory of historical Russia,' he said. asserted
he → ’ → Russia
The Russian military hit the port of Vilkovo in the Odesa region in Ukraine, a railcar depot in the Poltava region and a cargo vessel in the Black Sea, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram on Friday, adding that all were used for military purposes. asserted
all → hit → purposes
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said that a Russian attack hit one of its thermal power plants, which has halted operations due to significant damage. asserted
which → say → damage
It did not say where the plant is located. asserted
plant → say → ?
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