AP: Pentagon watchdog declines to investigate Starlink slowdown in Ukraine

The Pentagon’s watchdog has rejected a bipartisan request to open an investigation into recent disruptions to the satellite internet service Starlink and its military version Starshield in Ukraine.

This was reported by the Associated Press.

A group of senators — four Republicans and five Democrats — asked the Defense Department’s inspector general to open an investigation after Ukrainian officials reported speed restrictions on the Starlink network and its military modification Starshield. These systems play a critically important role in providing communications for Ukraine under wartime conditions; according to Ukrainian representatives, the imposed restrictions made it harder to intercept Russian strike drones moving at high speed.

In a response dated Tuesday, the Pentagon watchdog told lawmakers that they should direct their questions to the U.S. Air Force.

This raised concerns among lawmakers that the military department and even its independent inspector general are unwilling to call into question the influence that SpaceX head Elon Musk has over communications systems used for defense purposes. According to an aide to one member of Congress, the situation is seen as the inspector general declining to investigate Musk, even though he has every opportunity to do so.

“It is concerning that the inspector general appears to have decided not to investigate the disruptions to satellite communications on which the protection of Ukraine’s civilian population depends,” Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of those who signed the request to the Pentagon, told AP.

Shaheen added that “the Trump administration and SpaceX have presented conflicting versions of the causes of these disruptions,” stressing that “an independent inquiry is needed to establish who is responsible and prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The lack of answers raises questions about how much power Musk holds over a critically important communications system. According to an aide to one of the congressmen, concern on Capitol Hill about Musk’s control over Starlink has existed for many years; in part, it was precisely this that led to the creation of Starshield — a version of the system intended for military needs.

Earlier, the White House and Musk initially shifted responsibility onto each other for the disabling of high-speed communications for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that the White House was not involved. Musk said he had nothing to do with the restrictions on the communications operation. However, he ultimately acknowledged that SpaceX had limited Starlink speeds in Ukraine, accusing the Ukrainian side of violating the terms of service. At the same time, he denies any involvement in restricting the operation of Starshield.