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WorldQuiet 9d · day 9

Zelenskyy says Musk's Starlink slowdown contributed to civilian deaths in Lutsk strike

A PBS NewsHour investigation ties an October 14 Russian drone strike that killed six in Lutsk to Elon Musk's admitted throttling of Starlink service to Ukraine.

newest coverage 8d agosummary written 8d ago2 pieces214 likes & upvotes12 comments NewswiresBluesky

What to know

  • Zelenskyy has made his clearest statement yet linking Elon Musk's Starlink slowdown to civilian deaths from an October 14 drone strike in Lutsk that killed six.
  • Musk admitted ordering the slowdown, describing it as closing a 'loophole' that allowed Ukraine to 'kill people,' triggering bipartisan anger in Washington.
  • Ukraine's air defenses and a new Starlink-reliant cruise missile jointly developed with Germany were affected by the outage, allowing a Shahed-type drone to break through.
  • SpaceX has not responded to PBS NewsHour's questions about the disruption or Zelenskyy's civilian casualty allegations.

Elon MuskElon Musk SpaceX owner, operator of StarlinkVolodymyr ZelenskyyVolodymyr Zelenskyy President of UkraineOlena Matviik Mother of strike victim Maria MatviiukSerhii Husband of strike victim Maria MatviiukSpaceX Operator of the Starlink satellite network

Zelenskyy says Musk's Starlink slowdown contributed to civilian deaths in Lutsk strike
PBS NewsHour

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 1 piece in two hours at Oct 30, 6 PM; 2 pieces over 9 days (1 article · 1 post) Oct 30, 6 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Oct 30, 8 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Bluesky 1Oct 30, 10 PM — quietOct 31, 12 AM — quietOct 31, 2 AM — quietOct 31, 4 AM — quietOct 31, 6 AM — quietOct 31, 8 AM — quietOct 31, 10 AM — quietOct 31, 12 PM — quietOct 31, 2 PM — quietOct 31, 4 PM — quietOct 31, 6 PM — quietOct 31, 8 PM — quietOct 31, 10 PM — quietNov 1, 12 AM — quietNov 1, 1 AM — quietNov 1, 3 AM — quietNov 1, 5 AM — quietNov 1, 7 AM — quietNov 1, 9 AM — quietNov 1, 11 AM — quietNov 1, 1 PM — quietNov 1, 3 PM — quietNov 1, 5 PM — quietNov 1, 7 PM — quietNov 1, 9 PM — quietNov 1, 11 PM — quietNov 2, 1 AM — quietNov 2, 3 AM — quietNov 2, 5 AM — quietNov 2, 7 AM — quietNov 2, 9 AM — quietNov 2, 11 AM — quietNov 2, 1 PM — quietNov 2, 3 PM — quietNov 2, 5 PM — quietNov 2, 7 PM — quietNov 2, 9 PM — quietNov 2, 11 PM — quietNov 3, 1 AM — quietNov 3, 3 AM — quietNov 3, 5 AM — quietNov 3, 7 AM — quietNov 3, 9 AM — quietNov 3, 11 AM — quietNov 3, 1 PM — quietNov 3, 3 PM — quietNov 3, 5 PM — quietNov 3, 7 PM — quietNov 3, 9 PM — quietNov 3, 11 PM — quietNov 4, 1 AM — quietNov 4, 3 AM — quietNov 4, 5 AM — quietNov 4, 7 AM — quietNov 4, 9 AM — quietNov 4, 11 AM — quietNov 4, 1 PM — quietNov 4, 3 PM — quietNov 4, 5 PM — quietNov 4, 7 PM — quietNov 4, 9 PM — quietNov 4, 11 PM — quietNov 5, 1 AM — quietNov 5, 3 AM — quietNov 5, 5 AM — quietNov 5, 7 AM — quietNov 5, 9 AM — quietNov 5, 11 AM — quietNov 5, 1 PM — quietNov 5, 3 PM — quietNov 5, 5 PM — quietNov 5, 7 PM — quietNov 5, 9 PM — quietNov 5, 11 PM — quietNov 6, 1 AM — quietNov 6, 3 AM — quietNov 6, 5 AM — quietNov 6, 7 AM — quietNov 6, 9 AM — quietNov 6, 11 AM — quietNov 6, 1 PM — quietNov 6, 3 PM — quietNov 6, 5 PM — quietNov 6, 7 PM — quietNov 6, 9 PM — quietNov 6, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quiet 1
Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6yesterdaynow · 11:25 AM ET
  1. 1

    PBS NewsHour reports from Lutsk on Starlink disruption fallout

    Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky and producer Katia Patin traveled to Lutsk to document the strike's aftermath and interview victims' families; SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment by broadcast time.

    “During those attacks, I wanted to draw a picture of Putin and Trump sitting together, each holding a glass of Ukrainian blood, as if Putin had invited Trump to drink Ukrainian blood with him.”
    — Olena Matviik, mother of strike victim
    1. 1 outlet Inside a Ukrainian city hit by Russian drones during the Starlink disruption

      first by PBS NewsHour, 8d ago

    • pbsnews.org

      In Ukraine, President Zelenskyy made the clearest indication yet that a disruption of Starlink technology contributed to civilian deaths.

      pbsnews.orgBluesky8d ago214▲view on Bluesky ↗
  2. background

    Zelenskyy links Starlink slowdown to civilian deaths — President Zelenskyy made his clearest statement yet that the Starlink disruption was among the reasons civilians, including Maria Matviiuk, were killed in the Lutsk strike.

  3. background

    Bipartisan anger erupts in Washington over the disruption — Musk's admission that he intentionally hindered Ukrainian defenses triggered bipartisan criticism in Washington, according to PBS NewsHour reporting.

  4. background

    Musk admits ordering Starlink slowdown for Ukraine — Elon Musk acknowledged on X that he ordered the slowdown of Starlink service to Ukraine, describing it as closing a loophole that had allowed Ukraine to 'kill people.'

  5. background

    Ukraine's new Starlink-reliant cruise missiles fail amid outage — A new cruise missile jointly developed by Ukraine and Germany, which relies on Starlink, unexpectedly fell out of the sky on the day of the Lutsk attack, allowing the enemy drone to penetrate air defenses, according to Zelenskyy.

  6. background

    Russian jet-powered drone kills six in Lutsk supermarket strike — Shortly after Ukrainian troops noticed some high-speed drones could not connect properly to Starlink, a Russian Shahed-type jet-powered drone struck a supermarket in Lutsk, starting a fire that killed six people, including store employee Maria Matviiuk.