A Ukrainian official has leveled criticism at Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, for ordering the shutdown of the Starlink satellite network over Crimea last year, ostensibly to prevent a Ukrainian attack on Russian warships. This revelation comes from a new biography of Musk written by Walter Isaacson.
During an interview with Isaacson, Musk reportedly pondered, “How am I in this war?” This was during the early stages of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, when Western governments were rushing to provide Kyiv with artillery and air defense systems, and Starlink terminals began arriving in the country.
However, Musk’s enthusiasm for the arrangement soured. According to the book, he expressed concerns that the Ukrainian attack on Russian vessels, facilitated by Starlink, could provoke a nuclear war with Russia. Musk emphasized that Starlink was initially designed for peaceful purposes like providing internet access for school and entertainment, not for military actions.
In response to these revelations, a top aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, criticized Musk for not allowing Ukrainian drones to use Starlink to disable part of the Russian military fleet. Podolyak argued that this allowed the Russian fleet to fire missiles at Ukrainian cities, resulting in civilian casualties.
Musk, however, denied deactivating Starlink in a Twitter thread, stating that the regions in question were not activated. He called for both sides to agree to a truce and expressed regret over the loss of lives in the conflict.
Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, houses Russia’s Black Sea warships. In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, these warships fired missiles at Ukrainian coastal cities and imposed a crippling naval blockade.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s digital minister, had previously requested Starlink capability from Musk on Twitter, and he later posted a photo showing Starlink equipment in Ukraine. Starlink, a global satellite network developed by SpaceX, plays a vital role in facilitating communication on the Ukrainian battlefield.
Isaacson’s book also revealed that Musk’s decision was discussed in a phone call with President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley. Musk was engaged in a texting conversation with Fedorov, who implored Musk to restore Starlink’s connectivity for Ukrainian submarine drones to target Russia’s warship fleet.
Musk argued that Ukraine was risking strategic defeat with its actions and believed that a successful Ukrainian attack on the Russian fleet could lead to a major escalation.
The complexities of technology, geopolitics, and war have thrust Elon Musk into an unexpected role in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, sparking a heated debate about the role of private enterprises in global conflicts.
