Rep. Crow Calls Musk's Starlink Control 'Beyond Disturbing' as Ukraine Says Offensive-Strike Claim Is 'Physically Impossible'

Since Elon Musk said Saturday, Oct. 24, that his company throttled Ukraine's Starlink to close a "loophole," the fight has moved from Kyiv's complaints to Capitol Hill, with a demand for answers on who really controls the connectivity Ukraine fights with.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Oct. 25, that a private citizen holding this much leverage over a war is "beyond disturbing to me."

Host Margaret Brennan asked whether an unelected official can have that kind of unilateral influence over U.S. national security policy. "Yeah, it appears to be the case," Crow said.

Crow's letter to Trump

Crow said he wrote directly to President Trump, together with Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. The letter says lawmakers "deserve answers."

His language was sharp. He called Musk a "tech oligarch" who is "unaccountable," "unelected," and operating with "zero transparency" while making "life-and-death decisions on the battlefield."

Crow also said the Trump administration allowed this to happen, and vowed Democrats will "try to stop it." No Republican response to the letter has been reported, and the White House has not said whether it will answer.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that if Democrats retake the Senate, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should testify on what happened. His summary of the competing accounts: "Somebody is lying here."

The technical dispute

Musk's claim, posted on X, is that Ukraine's military "violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people." He wrote that such use "has never been allowed, nor should it be."

Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser to President Zelensky, answered on Telegram that this is not how the system operates in Ukraine. He said the civilian Starlink service "does not function over the territory of Russia," and that drones on it have had a speed limit of 70 to 90 km/h (about 43 to 56 mph) for months.

"Consequently, it is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for us to use commercial Starlink for deep-strike or medium-range strike operations," he wrote. He called it "very strange" that Musk is unaware of those limits.

Serhiy Sternenko, a former adviser at Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, went further. He said all drone missions needing satellite communication could only be carried out on Starshield, the military-grade service. "I can say with certainty that this is not true," he said of Musk's claim.

Musk says Starshield is a separate system controlled by the U.S. government. He has said that whatever the government decides to do with it "is up to them." The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk himself ordered the Starshield slowdown, which is the report that prompted several Democrats to call for an investigation. Musk has not addressed that reporting directly, and SpaceX did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Who ordered it

The public record on responsibility is still contradictory. Last week Musk wrote that any limits "are decided by the US military and ultimately Potus." Trump said, "I don't know if it was anybody, but it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the president "has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr Musk," calling SpaceX "a private company." Vice President JD Vance backed Musk, saying the billionaire doesn't want to get in the middle of a war between two states "without the United States government effectively directing him on what to do."

That is the strongest defense of Musk on the record: a private company sets its own terms of service, and it should not be conscripted into a war without a clear order from Washington. The problem is that Washington says it gave no order, and Musk says it did.

Musk has not explained why Ukraine received no warning before the restrictions took effect.

What the cap cost and what came after

Ukrainian commanders reported lost drones and disrupted missions during the more than week-long cap, which limited Starshield terminals to about 100 mph (160 km/h). Ukraine's air defenses against Russian drones were hampered during daily attacks.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara said Saturday that monitoring systems recorded speeds above 400 km/h after restoration. Trump said he asked Musk to lift the restrictions. Zelensky thanked "all Americans," U.S. lawmakers, the State Department and Trump.

The pressure on Kyiv has not eased. Zelensky said Sunday that Russia launched nearly 2,300 drones at Ukrainian cities in the past week, and he renewed his call for faster interceptor deliveries.

The diplomatic backdrop is shifting too. Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way talks with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a localized ceasefire around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Kherson region, brokered by first lady Melania Trump.

The cap landed amid friction over Trump's reported deal to import Russian diesel, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal.

Crow's letter is now with the White House. Whether Trump answers, and whether anyone in his administration or at SpaceX will say on the record who ordered the Starshield cap, remains unresolved ahead of those talks.