U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff landed in Moscow Thursday, and are they bearing another big gift for Vladimir Putin? Ukraine is again experiencing "significant disruptions" to SpaceX's Starshield service for military and government users, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media Thursday. Our sources at the front line say the same.
Mr. Zelensky described "systematic speed restrictions" of 100 miles per hour. He added that the throttling has caused "a significant complication" for intercepting high-speed jet drones. The Institute for the Study of War says that when SpaceX services were throttled last month, Ukraine's jet-drone interception rate dropped to some 74% from 77%.
Mr. Putin is taking advantage of Ukraine's strained air defenses to terrorize civilians. A strike on Kyiv Wednesday night killed at least one and injured eight, and attacks on the Ukrainian energy grid are creating widespread blackouts ahead of a frigid winter.
The Ukrainians also use Starshield to carry out the mid-range strikes on enemy logistics that have thwarted Russian battlefield advances this year. Starshield alternatives aren't as effective, and Ukraine's mid-range drones are easier to shoot down flying slower than 100 miles per hour. A Ukrainian military source said Thursday that the new round of disruptions had "nearly halted" mid-range strikes on Russian logistics at one part of the eastern front.
By our deadline the White House, Pentagon and State Department hadn't answered our inquiries about SpaceX services in Ukraine, and Elon Musk hadn't addressed Mr. Zelensky's latest claims of throttling. No one wanted to claim responsibility last month either. But Starlink and Starshield shenanigans are a prime investigative target next year for Democrats, who may use this as a justification to impose more government control over SpaceX.
Restrictions on Starshield harm Ukrainian defenses and help the Russians, and it's hard to believe the timing is a coincidence. Mr. Trump keeps pressuring Ukraine to make peace, though Kyiv has repeatedly offered to accept cease-fires. Mr. Putin routinely rejects them, yet Mr. Trump keeps offering him sanctions relief and other concessions and getting nothing in return. The result is more bloodshed, not peace.
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