President Donald Trump has denied that the White House ordered restrictions this week on Starlink satellite services used by Ukraine's armed forces, after Ukrainian officials reported outages that disrupted military operations.
Ukrainian officials on Tuesday and Wednesday said SpaceX had restricted use of Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink, without warning. The restrictions cut off connectivity for drones and other vehicles travelling above 160 kilometres per hour, impeding military operations and efforts to defend civilians against intensifying Russian attacks.
Musk, writing on X, pinned responsibility on the US government: "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government."
Asked who was responsible, Trump told reporters on Friday: "Well, I don't know if it was anybody because it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon. And from what I understand, it's the same as it's always been."
Serhii Beskrestnov, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on Telegram: "Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions, and this led to the failure of a number of missions."
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's deputy prime minister, criticised Musk directly on X: "Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you." Poland has purchased Starlink services for Ukraine from SpaceX.
Musk is an advisor to the Pentagon on technology through his role in Project Meridian. Neither Musk nor SpaceX responded to requests for comment on Friday.
SpaceX shares are down about 11 per cent this week. The company is scheduled to report quarterly results on Tuesday.