1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) says he and his Senate colleagues will ask the Defense Department’s inspector general to investigate Ukraine’s sudden loss of access to the military version of Starlink, known as Starshield, which hampered Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian drones. I hope to see SC Senators and House members to making a similar efforts to urge the DOD's ispector general to get to the bottom of this service disruption. Tillis said the “snafu” that left Ukrainian civilian and military targets exposed now appears to have been caused by something that happened at the Department of Defense, which operates Starshield. “The latest reporting suggests this strategic snafu may have occurred more locally within DOD Starshield systems, not with Starlink or SpaceX,” Tillis posted late Wednesday on the social platform X. “I’m not holding my breath for Defense Secretary Hegseth to offer transparency, so we’ll be asking the DOD Inspector General to initiate an investigation and report back to Congress and the American People,” the North Carolina Republican continued. “Meanwhile, both Ukrainian civilians and U.S. diplomatic and security personnel were placed at unnecessary risk and without warning.” This appears to be a deliberate act, timed to perfection with Trump's growing anger with Ukraine and support of Russia. As unacceptable as it is that Trump continually undermines Ukraine by praising and siding with Putin, if it is proven that Musk or this administration tampered with Ukraine's Starshield to sway the effort of the war, or as punitive measures, it would be an egregious act of aggression against our ally. Trump, Hegseth, Musk, and anyone else potentially responsible must be investigated and held to the highest account. Do not stop until an investigation is underway and we know exactly what happened and why.