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# The Kill Switch
- URL: https://theroundabout.eu/the-kill-switch/
- Published: 2026-10-29T15:45:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-29T15:45:53.000Z
- Author: Aristidis Myrmidon
- Tags: Issue 5, The Commissioner's Column

*By Constantine Murmur*

The week of 14 October 2026 began with SpaceX throttling military-grade Starlink service to Ukraine — specifically, imposing a 160 kilometre per hour speed cap on Starshield terminals, the kind used by drone operators, without warning, in the middle of active operations. Ukrainian drone commanders lost connectivity mid-mission. Air defence interceptions were disrupted. Ukraine’s presidential adviser said it had become impossible to confirm whether what was happening was “a coincidence.” When asked who had ordered it, Elon Musk said the decision belonged to the US military and the president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had no foreknowledge. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said no Pentagon directives had been issued. President Trump said he did not know who had done it. Service was eventually restored on 24 October, after which Musk said Ukraine had violated Starlink’s terms of service. Ukraine said it had not. Commissioner Myrmidon notes that five parties have now provided six contradictory accounts of the same ten-day episode, and that none of them has any obvious incentive to locate the truth. He has formed certain views about the week as a whole. Madame Graticula has suggested he take the rest of the day off.

It is worth reconstructing what else happened that week, since the context is instructive. On the same day that SpaceX restricted Starlink — a restriction subsequently reported to have been imposed as Washington pressured Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries — Russian missiles struck a park in Kharkiv, killing six civilians including children. On the same day, Donald Trump said it was time for Ukraine to have a new president, a sentiment described by the Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev as “iconic and historical.” On the same day, the US Ambassador to the European Union warned European companies that they should be “wary” of “devastating” retaliation if Brussels pressed ahead with plans to limit spectrum access for non-EU satellite operators — a category that includes SpaceX. Commissioner Myrmidon notes that in a single day, SpaceX restricted service to a country at war, Russia killed civilians in that country, the American president called for that country’s leader to be removed, and the American ambassador threatened the Europeans who were discussing reducing their dependence on SpaceX. He notes further that the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said the situation was being monitored. He does not note what Madame Graticula said about this, because she has asked him not to.

The word that Commissioner Myrmidon keeps hearing, in corridors and at receptions and once, he is told, in a lift between the second and fourth floors of a building whose name he will not disclose, is “strategic autonomy.” The EU has been discussing strategic autonomy in telecommunications and satellite communications since at least 2020\. It has been discussing it with particular urgency since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine and it became apparent that a significant portion of the continent’s critical connectivity infrastructure was operated by a company owned by a man who had been having private telephone calls with Vladimir Putin. In the years since, the discussion has produced several white papers, a number of Commission communications, a proposed Cloud and AI Development Act, and — this week — a letter of intent signed by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone to explore a joint bid for satellite spectrum, with a satellite partner yet to be selected and a constellation yet to be built. Commissioner Myrmidon has read the letter of intent. He considers the timeline to be consistent with previous practice.

The week ended with Ukraine running out of Patriot interceptor missiles, Russia having struck its energy infrastructure seventy-six times since Trump announced an energy ceasefire, and SpaceX having restored Starlink service to a speed of one hundred and sixty kilometres per hour — a speed that, Ukrainian drone commanders noted, was insufficient for operational requirements. The EU’s response to the week was to issue statements of deep concern, to note that the situation was being monitored, and to welcome the letter of intent from Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone. Commissioner Myrmidon has read the statements. He has read the letter of intent. He has formed certain views about the gap between the two. Madame Graticula, who took his call on Sunday evening, noted that it was the first time in five years of correspondence that she had heard him sound tired. The satellite partner has not yet been selected.