Report: Musk ordered Starlink slowdown in Ukraine, then blamed it on Trump
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A Wall Street Journal report said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered the Starlink throttling that blindsided Ukraine’s air assault forces last week, despite Musk’s claim that all decisions on the military version of Starlink are made by the US military and President Trump. Trump denied ordering the restrictions. While Musk may have spoken to Trump and administration officials before the decision, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Musk made the final call. The decision came after both Musk and Trump criticized Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries.
《华尔街日报》的一篇报道称，SpaceX首席执行官埃隆·马斯克下令对“星链”（Starlink）进行限速，导致乌克兰空袭部队上周措手不及。尽管马斯克声称有关军用版“星链”的所有决定均由美国军方和特朗普总统做出，但特朗普否认下达过此类限制指令。虽然马斯克在做出决定前可能与特朗普及政府官员进行过沟通，但《华尔街日报》昨日报道称，最终决定是由马斯克做出的。此前，马斯克和特朗普都曾批评乌克兰袭击俄罗斯的柴油炼油厂。
“Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration,” the WSJ wrote, citing unnamed US officials and people familiar with the matter. The report said that “Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network… rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless.” Ukraine officials say the restriction affected Starshield, a satellite offering for the military that uses Starlink technology. In this case, “speed” refers to the flight speed of drones.
《华尔街日报》援引未具名的美国官员和知情人士的话写道：“埃隆·马斯克下令放慢乌克兰所依赖的军用级‘星链’速度，这一决定在基辅引发了恐慌，并在特朗普政府内部造成了混乱。”报道称，“马斯克限制了乌克兰硬件连接卫星网络的速度……导致一些攻击型无人机和拦截无人机几乎无法使用。”乌克兰官员表示，此次限制影响了“星盾”（Starshield），这是一种使用“星链”技术的军用卫星服务。在此语境下，“速度”指的是无人机的飞行速度。
“The cap, imposed without warning early Thursday, cuts the Internet data connection when a communication terminal moves faster than 160 kph (100 mph), which is common for Ukrainian drones equipped with Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite service offered by SpaceX. The restriction forced the drones to fly slower than usual, making it easier for Russian weapons to target or evade them,” the Associated Press wrote last week. Musk and Trump both denied responsibility.
美联社上周报道称：“这一限制措施于周四早些时候在毫无预警的情况下实施，当通信终端移动速度超过每小时160公里（100英里）时，互联网数据连接就会中断。对于配备了SpaceX提供的军用版‘星链’服务——‘星盾’的乌克兰无人机来说，这种速度很常见。该限制迫使无人机以低于平时的速度飞行，使其更容易被俄罗斯武器瞄准或避开。”马斯克和特朗普均否认对此负责。
The Starlink and Starshield names are often used interchangeably by government officials discussing military use, and Ukraine has been known to use both the Starlink commercial service and the Starshield military variant. But Ukrainian officials have made it clear they are objecting to new restrictions on Starshield. One WSJ source said Musk spoke to Trump and White House officials before the decision. “Some US officials say that Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump didn’t specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. But a person familiar with the situation said Musk talked to multiple senior administration officials, including with Trump, before imposing the new speed cap, which Ukrainian officials said had allowed Russian missiles to evade their defenses,” the WSJ wrote.
在讨论军事用途时，政府官员经常混用“星链”和“星盾”这两个名称，众所周知，乌克兰既使用“星链”商业服务，也使用“星盾”军用变体。但乌克兰官员明确表示，他们反对对“星盾”实施新的限制。《华尔街日报》的一位消息人士称，马斯克在做出决定前曾与特朗普和白宫官员交谈。《华尔街日报》写道：“一些美国官员表示，马斯克是单方面行动，特朗普并未专门下令对乌克兰进行任何报复。但一位知情人士称，马斯克在实施新的限速措施前，曾与包括特朗普在内的多位政府高级官员交谈，乌克兰官员称该限速措施导致俄罗斯导弹得以避开其防御系统。”
CBS News yesterday said its sources indicated that “Musk held multiple conversations with administration officials leading up to the order” and “wanted clarity on the president’s thinking on the matter.” Musk denied making the decision to limit Starshield last week. He wrote on October 14 that, unlike the Starlink commercial service, “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻昨日表示，其消息来源指出，“马斯克在下达命令前与政府官员进行了多次对话”，并“希望明确总统对此事的想法”。马斯克否认上周做出了限制“星盾”的决定。他在10月14日写道，与“星链”商业服务不同，“‘星盾’系统由美国政府拥有和控制。任何关于速度或使用量的限制均由美国军方和最终由美国总统决定。”
Trump told reporters on October 16, “I didn’t do that. No, we didn’t do that at all… I heard about it through the news, through the media. We didn’t slow it down at all.” Trump was asked again on Monday who ordered the slowdown and responded, “I don’t know who it was, but I’d like to find out.”
特朗普10月16日对记者表示：“我没有那样做。不，我们根本没有那样做……我是通过新闻、通过媒体听说的。我们根本没有放慢它的速度。”周一，当特朗普再次被问及是谁下令减速时，他回答说：“我不知道是谁，但我很想查清楚。”
A Reuters report on October 15 stated that the “order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter.” Yesterday’s WSJ report suggests that after Ukraine complained, officials from SpaceX and the White House coordinated on messaging in an attempt to minimize the backlash. “During the uproar, SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts seeking a unified understanding and subsequent message that the company and Trump administration coordinated ahead of Musk’s directive, the people said,” according to the WSJ.
路透社10月15日的一篇报道称，据两名美国官员和一名听取了相关情况的西方官员透露，“限制乌克兰用于战场通信和无人机行动的卫星系统的命令来自白宫内部”。《华尔街日报》昨日的报道表明，在乌克兰提出投诉后，SpaceX和白宫的官员在信息发布上进行了协调，试图将负面影响降至最低。《华尔街日报》援引知情人士的话称：“在骚乱期间，SpaceX的代表致电白宫同行，寻求达成统一的理解，并随后发布消息称，该公司与特朗普政府在马斯克的指令下达前进行了协调。”
Musk’s October 14 post said that any “offensive military action” must rely on Starshield and not the Starlink commercial service. Musk has previously objected to certain US military uses of the Starlink commercial service. Starlink’s dominance of the market for low-Earth orbit satellite broadband, and the technology’s usefulness for military operations, has given Musk a unique ability to influence the war in Ukraine.
马斯克10月14日的帖子称，任何“进攻性军事行动”都必须依赖“星盾”，而不是“星链”商业服务。马斯克此前曾反对美国军方将“星链”商业服务用于某些用途。“星链”在低地球轨道卫星宽带市场的统治地位，以及该技术在军事行动中的实用性，使马斯克拥有了影响乌克兰战争的独特能力。
Musk first sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine in February 2022 after the Russian invasion disrupted broadband access. SpaceX confirmed in 2023 that it had blocked Ukraine from using Starlink with military drones, saying its contract with Ukraine did not allow offensive uses. But in August 2024, SpaceX received a Pentagon contract to expand Ukraine’s access to the military-focused Starshield, Bloomberg reported later that year. The August 2024 deal was apparently the second such contract, and it reportedly allowed Ukraine to connect another 2,500 Starlink terminals to the Starshield network. Ukraine already had 500 terminals connected to Starshield under a previous contract, the Bloomberg report said.
2022年2月，在俄罗斯入侵导致宽带接入中断后，马斯克首次向乌克兰发送了“星链”终端。SpaceX在2023年证实，已阻止乌克兰将“星链”用于军用无人机，称其与乌克兰的合同不允许进攻性用途。但据彭博社当年晚些时候报道，2024年8月，SpaceX获得了一份五角大楼的合同，以扩大乌克兰对以军事为重点的“星盾”的访问权限。2024年8月的协议显然是此类合同中的第二份，据报道，该协议允许乌克兰再将2500个“星链”终端连接到“星盾”网络。彭博社的报道称，根据之前的合同，乌克兰已经有500个终端连接到了“星盾”。
Despite those previously reported contracts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Saturday that Ukraine uses only Starlink and not Starshield. “I know Ukraine wants access to Starshield. They do not have Starshield now. They’ve asked for access to it in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia,” Rubio said. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine uses Starshield and that the new restrictions have not been completely lifted. He wrote in an X post on Monday that the limits affect “units using Starlink/Starshield services. Unfortunately, we have established that the equipment stops functioning at speeds of 130–161 kilometers per hour in
尽管有上述此前报道的合同，国务卿马尔科·鲁比奥周六对记者表示，乌克兰只使用“星链”，而不使用“星盾”。鲁比奥说：“我知道乌克兰想要使用‘星盾’。他们现在没有‘星盾’。他们要求获得使用权，以便在俄罗斯境内进行纵深打击。”乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基表示，乌克兰确实在使用“星盾”，且新的限制尚未完全解除。他在周一的一篇X帖子中写道，这些限制影响了“使用‘星链’/‘星盾’服务的部队。不幸的是，我们已经确定，当设备速度达到每小时130至161公里时，它就会停止工作。”