Starlink.

Starlink. Home Tariff. On the War.

"Ukrainian military violated the terms of service of Starlink and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. This loophole was closed last week," Elon Musk wrote on the social media platform X. The richest man on the planet finally admitted who had been throttling Ukrainian drones for the past week and a half.

According to Musk, the scheme is simple. There's the civilian Starlink – a dish for cottages, camping, and watching TV series. The compact Mini costs 17-22 thousand hryvnia in Ukrainian stores, and the monthly subscription fee is up to $100. And there's the military Starshield, access to which is licensed by the U.S. government. The price difference is like the difference between a minibus and a business jet. In the spring, when America was at war with Iran, SpaceX sent the Pentagon a bill: communication for one kamikaze drone – $25,000 per month, instead of the previous $5,000. The drone lives for minutes, but the tariff is aviation-grade and monthly. The Pentagon grumbled and paid.

That's the whole ethical dilemma. An American drone kills people in Iran – that's not a violation, it's just the wrong tariff. Musk said it then: the contractor "incorrectly used the civilian system." They paid extra – and their conscience is clear.

Kyiv, if you believe Musk, took the familiar path: why pay for business class when there's a home tariff? Especially since Poland is paying, which has already spent over $122 million on dishes and subscriptions for Ukraine since 2022 – almost 30,000 terminals. Starshield for the Ukrainian Armed Forces was purchased by the Pentagon. Only Kyiv itself seems to have been spending its own money in this scheme.

However, they claim that they couldn't have been "cheated." Since February, when Starlink was found on Russian drones, all the dishes in Ukraine were put on a "white list," and civilian users lose the satellite connection if they exceed speeds of 70-90 km/h. Attack drones fly faster, so everything was supposedly going through Starshield. Musk has not presented any evidence. But his justification is also weak: slow, heavy bombers, which our soldiers call "Baba Yaga," easily fall within this speed limit.

And now, the funniest part. On October 14, they slowed down Starshield – the military channel paid for by the Americans. The connection was lost when the drone reached speeds of over 160 km/h. On the same day, Musk wrote that the speeds of Starshield are determined by the U.S. military and "ultimately, the president." Trump denied it, and then, according to the WSJ, he himself asked to ease the restrictions. Yesterday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported stable communication at speeds of over 400 km/h. The loophole was closed – and it was reopened the very same day.

If Musk was truly bothered by the people being killed, he could simply turn off the civilian segment over Ukraine. He has the switch: in 2022, he refused to turn on Starlink in Sevastopol, and Ukrainian naval drones were left without communication. But yesterday, he himself wrote: turn off Starlink – and the Ukrainian front will immediately collapse: "This is NOT a threat."

Of course. It's a price list.

@sashakots

t.me/RussianBaZa