Elon Musk said he did not provide the Ukrainian government access to his Starlink communications network over Crimea to avoid becoming part of a "major act of war." He spoke out when a book claimed he had shut off Starlink to prevent a drone assault on Russian ships.
Kyiv has reportedly made an urgent Starlink activation request to the Russian city of Sevastopol.
'Committing Evil'
According to BBC, a senior Ukrainian official has accused Elon Musk of "committing evil" after reading a biography that revealed Musk ordered his Starlink satellite communications network to be turned off near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian warships. He said that since then, Russian naval boats have taken part in fatal assaults on civilian targets.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter and owned by Musk, "By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military fleet via Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities."
The Ukrainian official then asked, "Why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realize that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?"
The controversy began with the publishing of Walter Isaacson's biography of the billionaire. It is claimed that Musk cut off Ukraine's access to Starlink out of concern for a nuclear retaliation from the Russian government after Ukraine's ambush of Russia's naval force in Crimea.
Submarine drones equipped with explosives used by the Ukrainians to attack Russian ships in Sevastopol eventually lost contact with Starlink and "washed ashore harmlessly," according to Isaacson.
There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023
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…
Musk Denies Allegation
As the fighting has crippled the infrastructure of Ukraine, the Starlink terminals' ability to connect to SpaceX's orbiting satellites has proved critical to sustaining internet access and communication.
Shortly after Russia started its full-scale attack on its neighbor in February 2022, SpaceX, of which Musk is the biggest shareholder, began sending thousands of Starlink satellite dishes to Ukraine.
Musk claimed on X that SpaceX "did not deactivate anything" in response to the book's assertion because the company was never active in such areas to begin with.
"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 explained.
Musk has already said that long-range drone attacks using Starlink are not permitted, despite the fact that the system has become the connection backbone of Ukraine all the way to the front lines.
