Billionaire Elon Musk said on Friday that his space company could not afford to provide Ukraine with satellite internet indefinitely.
Mr Musk’s warning that SpaceX was losing almost $20 million a month on the project comes after he clashed with Ukrainian diplomats over a potential peace deal with Russia.
He appeared to confirm a report by CNN that SpaceX was seeking funding from the US military to keep the Starlink satellite system in place.
Any disruption to Starlink would be a blow to Ukraine’s defences after it was credited with keeping energy and communications networks afloat and foiling Russian jammers.
Mr Musk, whose fortune is estimated at $219 billion, was praised for making the Starlink system available to Ukraine in the early stages of the war.
But his relations with Ukraine were strained after Mr Musk put forward a ceasefire proposal that would involve ceding annexed Crimea, and potentially other parts of Ukraine, to Russia.
Referring to a Ukrainian diplomat who brusquely told Mr Musk where to go with his peace plan, the billionaire said on Friday: “We’re just following his recommendation.”
Mr Musk said the cost of managing satellites and ground stations and defending against cyber attacks and jamming was becoming unsustainable.
“SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely and send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100 times greater than typical households. This is unreasonable,” he said.
Ukraine said this week that Starlink had helped to restore connections in areas hit by Russian bombardment.
Kyiv was rocked by missile attacks for the first time in months as Russia hit back after an explosion on a key Crimean bridge.
Russia claimed on Thursday to have caught Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba admitting that Ukraine was behind attacks in Crimea, a subject on which Kyiv has remained coy.
Pro-Kremlin media said Mr Kuleba had been duped into a “frank confession” by pranksters posing as an American diplomat, although it was not clear when the footage was taken.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, used a public holiday in Ukraine, known as the Day of Defenders, to issue a rallying cry after almost eight months of war.
“I know that you are bringing victory closer as much as you can, and we will do everything to speed it up,” he said in a tribute to Ukraine’s troops.
“The world stands with us. More than ever in our history. This in particular makes us stronger than ever in our history.”
A British intelligence update on Friday said Russian forces had made some advances in the eastern Donetsk region, one of the areas purportedly annexed by Russia.
It said the private military company Wagner had achieved some localised gains in eastern Ukraine after being drafted in to aid Russian troops.
Ukraine meanwhile claimed that Russia had lost another 500 soldiers, 10 tanks and scores of artillery systems in the last day’s fighting.
Ukraine conflict - in pictures
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Smoke rises on the outskirts of the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Workers surround the Monument to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred with sandbags against damage from shelling in Mykolaiv. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for talks before a meeting between the Russian president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia. AFP -
People take water from a water pump in Kyiv. EPA -
A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Reuters -
A woman outside her home, which was destroyed during battles at the start of the conflict, in Yahidne, Chernihiv. Getty Images -
People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Firefighters at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman walks past the site of a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Rescuer workers at a building destroyed in an attack in Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Parts of a drone lie on a street in Kyiv. Reuters -
A drone flies over the Ukrainian capital during an attack. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen tow a captured Russian armoured vehicle in Rudneve village, Kharkiv. EPA -
A partially destroyed residential building in Saltivka, in Kharkiv. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen fire a captured Russian howitzer on a front line near Kupyansk city, Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region. AFP -
An officer from a Ukrainian national police emergency demining team prepares to detonate collected anti-tank mines and explosives near Lyman, in the Donetsk region. AFP -
A boy playing on a destroyed Russian tank on display in Kyiv. AFP -
A young couple hiding underground during an air alert in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Ukrainian firefighters looking for survivors after a strike in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Workers fix a banner reading 'Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!' to the State Historical Museum near Red Square in Moscow. AFP -
Residents try to cross a destroyed bridge in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AFP -
Alyona Kishinskaya helps to clean up a shop as it prepares to reopen in Balakiya, Ukraine, after a six-month Russian occupation. Getty Images -
Alla, 12, has a swinging time in Balakiya, Ukraine, as life goes on despite the war. Getty Images -
Ukrainian flags in the town square in Balakiya. Getty Images -
A destroyed Russian command centre in Izium, Ukraine. Getty Images -
In what may be a final farewell, young Russian recruits - escorted by their wives - walk to a train station in Volgograd before being sent to war in Ukraine. AP -
Russian recruits board the train to Ukraine in Volgograd. AP -
Ukrainian soliders drive a tank at the recently retaken eastern side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. AFP -
Volunteers pass boxes of food aid on a destroyed bridge over the Oskil River. AFP -
Ukrainian soliders rest on an armoured personnel carrier. AFP -
A sign warns of landmines in Izyum, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
This crater was left after a missile strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. AFP
