KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the United States government told SpaceX to slow the satellite service his military depends on, and that the restriction has not been lifted, a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the accusation as "categorically false."

"It was a message from the American government to limit this speed," Zelenskyy told NBC's Meet the Press, adding that "technically SpaceX did it." Asked whether service had been fully restored, he said: "No. We have limitations. The speed is maximum 161 km/h."

The dispute matters because Ukraine's drone war runs on SpaceX hardware. Starlink terminals and their military-grade cousin, Starshield, relay video and commands for interceptor drones that chase Russian attack drones and for longer-range strikes behind Russian lines. A cap on how fast a moving receiver can travel and still hold a connection is, in effect, a cap on what those drones can do.

The trouble began on October 14. Serhii Beskrestnov, a presidential adviser on communications, said SpaceX had restricted Starlink speeds for the Ukrainian military without warning, capping connections at about 100 mph, or 160 km/h, the Kyiv Independent reported. "Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation," he said.

Ukraine's 7th Air Assault Corps reported throttling of its connectivity that day, and a drone unit in the Huliaipole sector canceled several missions, according to the same report. Kyiv Post reported that units lost connections at speeds between 72 and 161 km/h and that affected operations included interceptor drones, medium-range strikes, reconnaissance and frontline logistics.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, pushed responsibility toward Washington. "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government," he wrote on X on October 14, adding that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," according to NPR.

On October 15, Reuters reported that Pentagon leaders had received instructions from inside the White House to slow the service for Ukraine's military, citing two US officials and a Western official. The officials did not say who issued the order or who carried it out. A senior US official told the agency: "No such request was ever made by the president."

President Donald Trump denied involvement on Friday. "It wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon," he said, according to NPR.

Rubio went further on Saturday, speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. "No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet or slow down speed so that certain drones couldn't use it," he said, according to Al Jazeera. "I'm not sure Zelenskyy knows what he's talking about, but it wasn't deliberate."

Rubio also drew a line between the two products. "Starlink is a commercial product, okay?" he said. "Starshield is a defence product, a military product." He said Ukraine had asked for access to Starshield "in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia," and added: "That's under conversation."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, interviewed separately on Meet the Press on Sunday, called Zelenskyy's accusation reckless, according to NBC News.

The Pentagon has shared Starshield with Ukraine since 2024 at a cost of billions of dollars, according to NPR. Ukrainian officials want the speed limit raised to 450 km/h, or about 280 mph, so that interceptors can keep pace with jet-powered Russian drones, Kyiv Post reported.

The satellite row has unfolded alongside a broader breakdown between Kyiv and Washington. Trump has criticized Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, blaming them for US diesel prices, and earlier this month moved to ease sanctions on Russia that Congress had passed. Zelenskyy called that a "weak decision by strong partners," according to NPR.

Zelenskyy also told NBC that US intelligence sharing on Russian ballistic missile attacks was blocked for three days before resuming. He said Russia launched more than 4,000 strike drones, bombs and missiles at Ukraine over the past week.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's former defence minister, said on October 15 that service was back but with the speed limit in place, and that the goal should be "completely removing the speed limit for Starshield," the Kyiv Independent reported.

Zelenskyy said he did not know who in Washington sent the instruction. "I don't know from whom, what cabinet, etc," he said, according to Ukrainska Pravda. In a post on X, he said the restrictions had hindered Ukraine's ability to intercept Russian weapons and described the consequences as "very painful and unpleasant."

A bipartisan group of senators has asked the Defense Department's inspector general to investigate the disruptions, according to NPR. Ukraine's request for full Starshield access, in Rubio's words, remains under conversation, with no date set for a decision.