Chris Owen is known to Underground Bunker readers as one of the very best historians writing about Scientology. But on social media, he has a much vaster following because of his reporting on the war in Ukraine. Last night, he posted a series of statements that we think are crucially important and is just now reaching the western media — that Ukraine accuses Elon Musk of suddenly and severely restricting the Starlink network that Ukraine’s military relies on. Chris learned this by reading Russian warbloggers, and here is his report, which we have taken from his online posts…
Russian warbloggers are applauding the Trump Administration for the apparent crippling of Starlink in Ukraine. Terminals now reportedly no longer work at speeds of higher than 60-70 km/h (37 to 44 mph), effectively disabling many Ukrainian drones. Starshield (the military version of Starlink) is widely used by Ukrainian forces, as well as Starlink itself, for communications both on the battlefield and to control drones within Ukrainian territory, though not across the border in Russia.
In February 2026, Ukraine, in collaboration with SpaceX, introduced a system of mandatory registration for Starlink terminals. This blocked Russian forces who were using smuggled terminals within Ukrainian territory, throwing their communications into chaos for a period. Commentators have anticipated for some time that the Trump Administration would exploit Ukraine’s heavy reliance on Starlink/Starshield to force it to end the war on Putin’s terms, despite the potential commercial damage this would cause to SpaceX. While it’s unclear whether the reported degradation of the service is deliberate or the result of technical problems, it would be consistent with a half-way approach of reducing its utility while not completely cutting it off and causing chaos among Ukrainian forces.
There will also inevitably be suspicions that the Starlink degradation is a quid pro quo as part of Trump’s diesel deal with Putin. Russian warbloggers have been asking for days, often angrily, what Russia will get in return for helping Trump with fuel.
Yuri Podolyak credits Trump directly for the degradation: “Trump has a different view [on ending the war]. And judging by the retaliatory actions (restricting access to intelligence data, as well as the speed of Internet access via Starlink) he believes that the Kyiv regime is responsible for undermining what the White House leadership considered to be very important.”
‘Rybar’ is more cautious: “Despite the difficult situation for the Ukrainian regime, there is no reason to rejoice yet. The events of the past few days clearly showed what the White House wants, and that is the fulfillment of its demands. The suspension of intelligence information (although Trump denied it) and the tightening of restrictions on Starlink are a lesson for the so-called Ukraine. It’s a message saying, ‘See what happens if you continue to resist the will of the master. Drones, electronic warfare systems, and reconnaissance systems — all of this is completely dependent on the systems of Elon Musk. There are alternative communication channels, such as OneWeb, but the number of satellites and terminals is too small, so they cannot replace Starlink. A complete collapse in the short term is unlikely, but it will force the Ukrainian army to operate without the familiar tools that account for over 90 percent of their capabilities. That’s why it’s hard to believe that the American administration would take such a step right now. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are needed as a compliant tool, and as soon as the arrogance of the Kyiv authorities is humbled, everything will likely return to normal.”
Igor Eleseev says that the Americans are “showing who is in charge and it’s not just the ‘ancient’ countries [of Europe] that are being shown. The whole world sees how, with their help, it is possible to successfully resist even a powerful state like Russia, and how, in a matter of days, one can be plunged into darkness.”
‘Military Observer’ links the Starlink degradation to the reported lack of advance warning from the US of Russian ballistic missile strikes in Kyiv, which have caused widespread damage, deaths, and injuries: “If the restrictions continue and the speed is further reduced, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will simply lose their advantage over Russia in having satellite Internet for their weapons systems. Against this backdrop, the recent lack of notifications about ballistic missile strikes no longer appears to be coincidental.”
‘Two Majors’ says that “overall, this situation highlights how reliant the Ukrainian Armed Forces, terrorist Hungarians [i.e. Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert ‘Magyar’ Brovdi], and other scoundrels are on Western support. In any case, let’s reiterate that a large number of enemy drones are already operating at speeds up to 150 km/h. So if this is indeed organized by the United States, it is a demonstrative and cautionary half-measure, highlighting the duplicity of any capitalist businessman.”
‘Fighterbomber’ says that Trump “is now starting to tighten the screws, as we had expected him to do much earlier. It can be assumed that there is a systematic, albeit rapid, pressure being applied to Zelenskyy to accept the conditions set by the United States. Next, we should expect the Starlinks to be disabled to zero speeds, and then perhaps completely shut down. It should be understood that we also use Starlinks for control and communication with Ukrainian individuals on the ‘white lists.’ However, with the launch of ‘Rassvet’ [satellites] and the development of mesh networks, this need will only remain at the level of small units.”
‘The Voivode Broadcasts’ advises Trump to take further steps to force a Ukrainian surrender: “I hope Trump will force Musk to completely cut off satellite Internet access to Ukrainians, at least for a couple of months… Disable Starlink. Stop sharing intelligence data. Stop supplying spare parts for equipment and military technology. Everything else will resolve itself very quickly.”
— Chris Owen
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 14, 2026 at 08:00
