⚡️🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺 — An order to restrict Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. The Pentagon was reportedly instructed to slow the service, which Ukraine relies on for battlefield communications, drone operations and intercepting Russian Shahed drones. Ukrainian officials said the restrictions disrupted drone missions, although the system later resumed working on moving objects at speeds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h), According to Reuters.

➡️ The move comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. US officials reportedly urged Ukraine to halt the attacks, while President Donald Trump blamed them for rising energy prices. However, experts cited in the report said the surge was mainly driven by the US-Israeli war with Iran and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz. A senior US official denied that Trump had requested the Starshield restrictions, while the White House did not clarify whether another administration official had ordered them.

➡️ Relations between the two sides have further deteriorated following a meeting in Miami on October 9, where US representatives reportedly expressed frustration over Ukraine’s refinery strikes and defended a deal allowing Russia to supply more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel to US and global markets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the deal, while Trump called for elections in Ukraine and Zelenskyy’s removal. Reuters also previously reported that US officials had threatened to suspend intelligence sharing on Russian missile launches, although Trump later said intelligence sharing was continuing.

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