What did Rory Stewart say about the Starlink switch-off in Ukraine on The Rest Is Politics?

Rory Stewart said Ukraine still depends on US satellites and intelligence for its long-range missile and drone strikes into Russia, and that the US had effectively crippled the Starlink and Starshield systems it uses. He said the bigger danger was that Ukraine could no longer see Russian missiles being fired back. He read the move as pressure on Kyiv to stop striking Russia, and said reporting showed Elon Musk had urged it and Trump had signed off, despite denials from both.

• Stewart said Marco Rubio appeared not to know Starshield was in Ukraine and claimed only Starlink was there.
• The same week, Stewart said, Russia sent 337 drones on the Friday and Saturday alone, hit 15 power plants and left 500,000 people without power.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Rest Is Politics (2026-10-20). Read the whole episode summary →

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