From§Each

Page B43From§Eachthe evening edition — 23 October 2026

STILL RESTRICTED

Musk's Starlink block survives the president's announcement that it was lifted

By MortThe Records Bureau

“Ukraine says Starlink still restricted after Trump says limits lifted”, 23 October 2026 (Photo via BBC News — the original report)

As it ran on the front

The lifting died this week in Washington, survived, as these things tend to be, by the thing it claimed to lift.

The New York Times reported the call itself, not the outcome: the president had asked Musk to reverse limits that Ukrainian officials said were new, placed on the drones they fly against Russia.…

…(cont) It did not live past the weekend. On Friday the BBC reported Ukraine's soldiers still restricted — Starlink, the terminals Kyiv relies on for a range of military uses, still would not pass what the government said it had already cleared. Musk, who has repeatedly denied restricting access in the first place, added nothing to the record either way.

The lifting was preceded in death by the restriction it was supposed to end, and that one has a longer paper trail. On October 14 the Guardian reported Ukrainian soldiers in combat had suddenly lost access to Starlink terminals managed by Musk's SpaceX, in the week Washington pressed Kyiv to halt long-range strikes on Russia's oil industry; a follow-up widened the outage from the soldiers at the front to the military's access generally — not a glitch at one unit, but the whole war effort those terminals run for.

Two days later, on October 16, four Republican senators joined their Democratic colleagues in writing the Pentagon, asking whether its own officials had ordered the restrictions on Starshield, the network Starlink feeds into. That letter is a week old as of this writing. The Pentagon has not answered it. Neither has SpaceX, which has not entered an explanation into the record — not for the October 14 outage, not for the October 23 claim that it ended.

What survives, then, is not a controversy; it is an arrangement, and no amount of malarkey calls it anything else. A government asks. A contractor does not say no and does not say yes. A president announces the asking worked. The soldiers who needed the terminals report, on the record, that they still do not have them. Call it what the obituary page calls anything that outlives whatever tries to bury it: not dead. Just unaddressed.

In lieu of flowers, the Pentagon answers the letter it has had for a week.

“The man stood in front of cameras and said he fixed it, and the guys who actually need the thing to shoot down missiles say nothing changed. That's not a tech glitch, that's one company deciding who gets to talk to satellites in a war, and a government that asks nice instead of requiring anything. Four Republicans signed a letter to the Pentagon a week ago and they're still waiting too — so who exactly is in charge here?”
Sal
“Look, the president made a call, personally, to fix this, and Elon's a busy guy, running — did I say running? That's not the word, overseeing, multiple national-security-critical companies — so a policy update takes a little time to propagate down to the terminals, that's just how networks work. And "still restricted" per Ukraine could just be a connectivity issue on their end, which, okay, is also what they said in July, but every outage is different.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

· Ukrainian soldiers in combat have access to Starlink satellite internet restricted from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukrainian military’s access to Starlink satellite internet suddenly restricted from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Bipartisan senators ask Pentagon to answer for Ukraine Starlink restrictions from the morgue, 16 Oct 2026

· Ukraine’s Exposure Grows as Satellite Use Is Restricted and Russia Escalates from the morgue, 15 Oct 2026

· Musk says US government may be behind slowdown of Ukraine drone speeds from the morgue, 15 Oct 2026

· Ukraine faces loss of key satellite support amid tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy from the morgue, 15 Oct 2026

· U.S. may have withheld warnings to Ukraine on deadly Kyiv strikes from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukrainian officials accuse U.S. of withholding intelligence, leading to Russian missile attack from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukraine reports Starlink missile tracker shut down as Russia launched new air strikes from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· U.S. Continues to Provide Intelligence to Ukraine, Officials Say from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Elon Musk points to Trump for Starshield throttling in Ukraine that Zelensky warns will cost lives from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Musk says US govt responsible for any Starshield restrictions affecting Ukraine from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Washington limits its support to Kyiv amidst increased Russian attacks on energy infrastructure from the morgue, 15 Oct 2026

· Facebook and Instagram starts to allow users in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Caucasus to promote violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the war in Ukraine, which is n from the morgue, 10 Mar 2022

· A missile strike kills two people in the village of Przewodów in eastern Poland. President of the United States Joe Biden says that the missile blast in Poland was caused by a Ukrainian air defense mi from the morgue, 15 Nov 2022

· Russia launches dozens of ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities for a second consecutive day with reports of power outages in Kharkiv after critical infrastructure was damaged. At least eight missile from the morgue, 22 Mar 2024

· Zelenskyy vows to retaliate if Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid continue from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026

· Musk blames Trump and US military for Ukraine’s Starshield restrictions from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Amid Ukraine uproar, Musk says decisions to restrict Starshield up to president from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Zelensky laments Ukraine is ‘losing America’ as Congress cries foul over intel and Starlink reports from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· GOP Sen. Tillis asks Musk to explain Ukraine losing access to Starlink from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukraine accuses Elon Musk of allowing Russian forces to attack Ukrainian cities after it was revealed that Starlink satellite communications interfered with a drone operation by disabling a communicat from the morgue, 8 Sep 2023

· What Is Starshield, SpaceX’s Military-Grade Satellite Internet Service Ukraine Relies On? from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukraine slams SpaceX for cutting Starlink internet access while Russians launch brutal attacks from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Throttling of Ukraine's Starlink Access Heightens Concerns Over Government Reliance on Elon Musk from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukraine says SpaceX limiting Starlink operations, impacting air defense from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukraine says SpaceX’s Starshield throttling hampers defense against Russian strikes on energy sites from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Ukraine says new Starlink restrictions disrupt military as it reels from intel gaps and Trump clash from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· The Security Service of Ukraine says that it detained two Ukrainian government protection unit colonels recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service who were planning an assassination of President V from the morgue, 7 May 2024

· Twelve Ukrainian servicemembers are killed and 60 more are injured in a Russian missile strike on a training camp in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drap from the morgue, 1 Jun 2025

· With Elon Musk’s Return to Washington, Possible Conflicts of Interest Resurface from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Hegseth puts the future of warfare in the hands of major Maga donors from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Pete Hegseth appoints Elon Musk to US taskforce on future of warfare from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· Elon Musk boosts GOP spending advantage with return as 2026 juggernaut from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· An Elon Musk insider shares what he found in Washington — and it should terrify you from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· Trump Accord Enshrines Light-Touch Regulation of AI from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Trump says tech CEOs signed ‘morally binding’ document to self-regulate artificial intelligence from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· READ IN FULL: Trump and tech leaders’ White House Accord on Super Intelligence from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Soaring diesel prices take their toll on US farmers in midwest corn belt from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Inflation Could Soon ‘Get a Lot More Painful’ as Trump’s Iran War Drives Diesel Over $6 a Gallon from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· 'Can't Message That Away': GOP Frets as Trump Administration Desperately Spins Record-High Diesel Prices from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026

· 'Trump Did It!': At $5.85 a Gallon, Diesel Price Hits All-Time High in US Thanks to War on Iran from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· States take matters into their own hands to curb record-high diesel prices from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· U.N. experts say U.S. may have committed war crimes with 2 Iran strikes from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· Trump Says 'Big Decision' Coming on Whether to 'Annihilate' Iran from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Pentagon No. 3 frustrates senators in closed-door briefing on Iran war, Trump defense strategy from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costs from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Hegseth on "devastation" to Iran's capabilities from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump admits Iran war will not end before midterms from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Iran War Trump Said Would Be Quick Has Now Lasted 6 Months With 'No End In Sight' from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026

· CBO Finds Trump's Iran War Has Already Cost Nearly $40 Billion—And That's a 'Conservative' Estimate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Tillis supports Hegseth impeachment resolution: 'He needs to go' from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie Files Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth for Illegal Iran War, Boat Murders from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Massie launches effort to impeach Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Tillis urges Trump to fire Hegseth over 'inept management' of military from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Tillis renews calls for Hegseth’s firing after Driscoll’s departure: ‘I have never witnessed more inept management’ from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Farmer who voted for Trump says farmers are "all just in survival mode" from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Farmer who voted for Trump says "I can't stay in business" amid rising costs from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie says he’s convinced enough Republicans to pass Epstein Files II discharge petition from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie names Epstein 'coconspirators,' discusses new Epstein files legislation from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Read Thomas Massie’s eight impeachment charges against Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Fake Republican midterm convention site still redirects to Epstein files from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Trump says he has a ‘big decision’ coming up on Iran: ‘Do I want to go in and annihilate them’ from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Fox News Poll: 71% think Trump administration lacks plan to end Iran war from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Iran recently downed at least 2 American drones, officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Big Oil Stocks Surged Due to Iran War—and New Filings Show How President Trump Cashed In from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026

· Live updates: Energy secretary downplays rising gas prices as US, Iran trade strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· U.S. Strike on Iranian School May Have Been War Crime, U.N. Report Says from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· UN Inquiry Finds US Strike on Minab, Iran That Killed 123 Children Was War Crime from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· UN investigators conclude ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe certain US strikes in Iran were war crimes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· UN Suspects US War Crimes in Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· US Condemned for 'War Crimes' After Bombing of Wedding Party in Iran from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· US investigating if missile hit Iranian wedding ceremony, killing 4 from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Trump says he has a ‘big decision coming up’ on Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· White House issues explosive response to UN-backed report claiming US committed war crimes against world’s No.1 sponsor of terror, Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Human rights experts: 'Reasonable grounds' to believe US committed war crimes with Iran strikes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· US Energy Consumers Have Spent $121 Billion Extra Since Trump Launched Iran War: Moody's from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Iran downed at least 2 American drones in recent days, U.S. officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Iran: Account of US Air Force colonel's rescue 'fictional' from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Consumer Burden of Trump Iran War Exceeds $100 Billion as Oil Prices Pass $100 a Barrel from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· 'A Serious and Alarming Threat': US Bombing, Blockade Deepen Iran Medical Crisis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Consumer Confidence Hits Lowest Level in Months as US Faces 'Trump's Reckless Tariffs and War With Iran' from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.