Poland blasts Musk for slowing Kyiv’s Starlink: ‘Big man, are you playing politics?’
‘We are watching you’, said Polish foreign minister Sikorski amid growing outcry over the restriction of the technology
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Poland has called out SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk for restricting access to Starlink satellite terminals across Ukraine.
The service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX provides broadband internet and has been used for government and military communications in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “As your European customers, we are watching you.”
The outage came just as Ukraine was hit by ballistic missiles without any warning from the US for a second night, despite Donald Trump’s insistence that there is an energy ceasefire in place between the countries.
The dig referred back to a comment Musk made to Sikorski in 2025, during a spat between the foreign minister, Musk and secretary of state Marco Rubio when he said: “Be quiet, small man.”
At the time he had also said “no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals... We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.”
Starlink has also grown significantly in Iran since its introduction to the country in 2022. There are believed to be around 50,000 Starlink terminals in Iran, but experts believe the total is “much higher” – some estimates put it at more than 100,000.
It comes amid reports in The Telegraph that the United States had promised Ukraine extra post-war security guarantees in any deal between it and Russia before talks fell apart after Trump announced his diesel deal with Vladimir Putin.
The agreement allows Moscow to supply diesel to global markets with Trump saying that the US would import 300,000 tons of the fuel.
Dive deeper
- ‘We are watching you’, said Polish foreign minister Sikorski amid growing outcry over the restriction of the technology
- Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
- Poland has called out SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk for restricting access to Starlink satellite terminals across Ukraine.
- The service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX provides broadband internet and has been used for government and military communications in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
- “Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “As your European customers, we are watching you.”