Starlink: Elon Musk admits preventing Ukrainian attack on Russia

September 8, 2023

Elon Musk admits preventing Ukrainian attack on Russia by refusing access to Starlink ‘to avoid being complicit in a major act of war’ – but furious Kyiv says his ‘big ego’ led to civilians being killed

Musk says he refused Kyiv’s request to activate Starlink satellites over Crimea
He refutes claim that he cut the connection, however, saying it was not active

Elon Musk has admitted to thwarting a major Ukrainian attack, enraging officials in Kyiv who have blamed him for the deaths of children and ‘committing evil’.

The billionaire CEO of Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and Space X was accused in a new book of cutting off Ukraine’s access to Starlink over the Crimean coast to prevent an attack on the Russian naval fleet.

Responding to the accusation, Musk said that while he did not order engineers to switch off the satellite system, he did refuse Kyiv’s request to turn it on because – he said – he wanted to ‘avoid being complicit in a major act of war.’

The world’s richest man began providing free access to Space X’s Starlink internet terminals in the early days of the Russian invasion in February 2022, which have been vital in allowing Ukrainians to communicate and coordinate their resistance.

But, at the end of last year, his enthusiasm began to wane, and he became increasingly concerned about taking sides – ultimately ordering that the internet be shut down to stop a ‘kamikaze drone’ submarine attack on Russian warships.

Elon Musk has admitted to thwarting a major Ukrainian attack , enraging officials in Kyiv who have blamed him for the deaths of children and ‘committing evil’

The billionaire CEO of Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and Space X (pictured in June) was accused in a new book of cutting off Ukraine’s access to Starlink over the Crimean coast to prevent an attack on the Russian naval fleet

Musk’s admission came in response to this post on Twitter, titled ‘ELON PREVENTS NUCLEAR WAR?’, which summarised a story from CNN that reported he had made the decision to turn off Ukraine’s internet after speaking to Russian officials

Musk told his millions of followers ‘there was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol’ but that he did not cut access, saying he only refused to turn on the satellites to allow Ukraine to carry out the attack

The admission from the Tesla co-founder has infuriating official in Kyiv, with Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky , pinning the blame for the deaths of children and other civilians on Musk’s ‘ignorance’ and ‘ego’

The exact date of the shutdown is not known, but CNN reported on Thursday that Musk made the decision to turn off Ukraine’s internet after speaking to Russian officials, who left him certain nuclear war would ensue.

The move disrupted a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian fleet and caused drones to wash harmlessly on to the shore.

Responding to a post on his social media site that summarised the story, titled ‘ELON PREVENTS NUCLEAR WAR?’, Musk said: ‘The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything.’

However, he told his millions of followers ‘there was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol.

‘The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor.

‘If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,’ he added.

The admission from the Tesla co-founder has infuriating official in Kyiv, with Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, pinning the blame for the deaths of children and other civilians on Musk’s ‘ignorance’ and ‘ego’.

‘Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake,’ Podolyak said on Twitter.

‘By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via Starlink interference, [Musk] allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities. As a result, civilians, children are being killed.

‘This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego,’ he said.

‘However, the question still remains: why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realise that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?’

Oliver Carroll, a foreign correspondent for The Economist, noted on Twitter that the angry response from Kyiv marks a change of approach towards Musk.

Ukraine has previously appeared eager not to alienate the billionaire, but Podolyak’s angry posts suggest Musk has tipped officials over the edge.

Russian warships sail on the Neva river during the Navy Day parade in Saint Petersburg in July this year. Musk prevented an attack on the Russian fleet in 2022, feeling he halted a ‘mini Pearl Harbor’ that could have escalated to nuclear war

Ukrainians are pictured standing near a Starlink terminal in November 2022 in Kherson, to use the internet

A visitor looks at the booth of Starlink during the International Consumer Electronics Fair (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, IFA) in Berlin, Germany, September 1, 2023

The original claim was made in a new biography, out on September 15, in which Musk asked author Walter Isaacson: ‘How am I in this war?’

‘Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars. It was so people can watch Netflix and chill and get online for school and do good peaceful things, not drone strikes.’

But The service has enabled Ukrainians to benefit from uninterrupted, independent and secure internet access amid Russia’s consolidated missile attacks – which had caused significant damage to Ukraine’s communications infrastructure.

In many cases, Starlink satellites became the only means of communication for the Ukrainian armed forces on the frontlines as the push against Russian defences.

Not long after Starlink began to help in Ukraine, Musk became concerned about the potential ramifications, and began speaking to US and Russian officials about the implications, as well as Ukrainian leaders.

He spoke to President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan; the chairman of the joint chiefs, General Mark Milley; and the Russian ambassador to the US, Isaacson writes.

Ukraine’s military had harnessed the technology to pilot drones carrying anti-tank grenades, destroying Russian tanks and army trucks.

Kyiv had also pioneered the use of naval ‘kamikaze’ drones – unmanned vessels laden with explosives that are driven toward Russian warships and detonated upon impact. In some cases, these have successfully damaged Russian ships.

Seafaring drones are also believed to have been deployed to destroy or damage infrastructure controlled by Moscow – most notably a stretch of the Kerch bridge that connects occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.

The South African-born billionaire made the decision to turn the internet off when he learned that Ukrainian commanders were plotting a submarine drone attack on a Russian naval vessel, off the coast of Crimea, according to the reports.

A Ukrainian soldier of the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade uses the Starlink system in June this year in the Chernihiv region

Kyiv planned to remote-pilot a drone to deliver an explosive strike on a Russian navy ship at a Black Sea base in occupied Crimea.

But Musk denied the Ukrainian military the use of his Starlink network.

When Musk switched the internet off, the drones, strapped with explosives, ‘lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly,’ Isaacson writes.

Musk was relieved he had prevented what he believed could have been a ‘mini Pearl Harbor,’ the author said.

The decision, the book claims, was driven by a concern that a Ukrainian attack would lead to a Russian response on Crimea with nuclear weapons. That fear was spurred by Musk’s conversations with Russian officials.

In the wake of the aborted strike, Ukraine army chief Valery Zaluzhnyi reportedly sought contact with Milley, alleging Musk had the ability to dictate his military’s capabilities to attack key Russian targets.

Zaluzhnyi said it was ‘concerning’ that Musk had ruined several planned attacks.

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi , commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army, complained to his U.S. counterpart about Musk’s control over battlefield tactics

Musk’s Starlink satellites have provided essential communication support for Ukraine’s military since Russia invaded

Musk had maintained from the outset that his technology is meant ‘for peaceful use only.’

Ukrainian officials pleaded with Musk directly to turn the internet back on.

Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister of Ukraine, pleaded with Musk via text message to restore the Starlink connection, telling Musk about their capabilities.

‘I just want you – the person who is changing the world through technology – to know this,’ Fedorov told Musk, according to Isaacson.

Musk told Fedorov he was impressed by the submarine, but would not restore the internet connection because he felt it was too provocative. He told Fedorov that Ukraine ‘is now going too far and inviting strategic defeat,’ according to Isaacson.

Musk’s comments appear to contradict this version of events, saying that the satellites were never switched on over the region in the first place, and that Ukraine was pleading with him to turn them on so they could carry out the attack.

Last month, Musk was was accused of holding ‘the Ukrainians and the US government at gunpoint,’ with his ability to switch off internet services on the Ukrainian front line at will.

Ultimately, the Pentagon paid Musk to keep the connection going, but journalist Ronan Farrow, in a profile of Musk for the New Yorker, spoke to Ukrainian and US officials who were deeply uneasy about the power Musk held.

Farrow told CNN that there had been ‘a standoff over internet access in Ukraine.’

Ronan Farrow told CNN that Elon Musk had ‘the Ukrainians and the U.S. government at gunpoint’

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tYAD6oQZNcY%3Frel%3D0

‘It appears he was talking to Vladimir Putin – he was telling multiple people that at the time, although he has since tried to deny that,’ said Farrow.

‘And then he was curtailing access specifically in areas that Russia was contesting.

‘At the end of that one of the things that happened was the Pentagon did pay up.

‘We’re going to make a deal in place to make sure this doesn’t shut off entirely.’

But Farrow said Ukrainians who had so praised Musk in the first year of the war were now worried about the whims of their mercurial benefactor.

Musk, in October 2022, was already complaining about the cost of providing the internet service.

He told the Pentagon that he could no longer fund the Starlink service.

Defense officials were ‘panicked’ by the prospect of the internet service being switched off and Colin Kahl, then the Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon, discussed the issue with Musk that month.

Kahl added: ‘My inference was that he was getting nervous that Starlink’s involvement was increasingly seen in Russia as enabling the Ukrainian war effort, and was looking for a way to placate Russian concerns.’

A senior defense official told the New Yorker that several conversations took place with US staff, and Musk revealed: ‘Well, I had this great conversation with Putin.’

Musk ultimately backed down, and agreed to keep providing free internet to Ukraine.

‘The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free,’ Musk wrote.

Gwynne Shotwell, Musk’s president at SpaceX, was furious at Musk for folding, according to Isaacson.

‘The Pentagon had a $145 million check ready to hand to me, literally,’ Isaacson quotes Shotwell as saying.

‘Then Elon succumbed to the bulls*** on Twitter and to the haters at the Pentagon who leaked the story.’

Local residents use a Starlink terminal, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, on January 31

A Ukrainian soldier gestures as he stands next to the Starlink connection in October in Kherson

Farrow, in his New Yorker article, reported that Ukrainians were deeply troubled by the episode.

‘People on the ground in Ukraine, on the front lines, remained spooked,’ said Farrow.

‘We bought his services, apparently at a very generous rate.

‘This is a situation where, metaphorically, he had the Ukrainians and the U.S. government at gunpoint.

‘And to this day they do fear that he is going to curtail service more.’

Four months later, in February this year, Shotwell formally announced the company was limiting Ukraine’s use of Starlink for military purposes.

Shotwell stated the service could be used for typical communications and humanitarian efforts, such as connecting families and hospitals.

Starlink’s terms of service document clearly states: ‘Starlink is not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses.’

Musk, whose offered his network of satellites to support Ukraine’s wartime communications for free in 2022, has maintained from the outset that his technology is meant ‘for peaceful use only’

Reports that Musk had spoken with Putin about the war first surfaced last October, and the Tesla owner has denied the claim

Farrow said Musk’s meetings with Putin raised eyebrows.

‘There is nothing wrong with those kind of warm relationships between a private individual and significant government leadership, even in the context of a military contractor relationship,’ he said.

‘But this is something more, and different.’

He pointed out that the United States was now in the unprecedented position of relying on a private individual for NASA’s space transport, and for completing its self-prescribed transition to electric vehicles.

Farrow called it ‘a new extreme, and political, power.’

The report said Musk ‘had said that his consultations with the Kremlin were regular’.

The report did not include further information about what Musk and the Russian president discussed.

Reports that Musk had spoken with Putin about the war first surfaced last October, and the Tesla owner has denied the claim.

The official who spoke to the New Yorker said the view in US defense circles about the alleged conversation was: ‘Oh dear, this is not good.’

Kahl said that ‘even though Musk is not technically a diplomat or statesman, I felt it was important to treat him as such, given the influence he had on this issue’.

Colin Kahl, then the Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon, spoke with Elon Musk last October amid fears in the Pentagon that Musk might switch off the Starlink service in Ukraine

As Musk grew uneasy about funding Starlink in Ukraine, he also argued publicly with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky about possible diplomatic solutions which could be found to the war

As Musk grew uneasy about funding Starlink in Ukraine, he also argued publicly with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky about possible diplomatic solutions, which could be found to the war.

Musk had tweeted that a deal could be reached that allowed Russia to maintain control of the Crimean Peninsula, which it occupied in 2014.

Zelensky responded with a sarcastic Twitter poll which asked: ‘Which Elon Musk do you like more?’: ‘One who supports Ukraine’ or ‘One who supports Russia.’

Musk said in October 2022 that he’d spoken to Putin ‘only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.’

Source: Read Full Article