Zelensky aide: Musk ‘allowed’ Russians to ‘fire missiles’ at Ukraine by ditching Starlink plans

When he’s not starting drama with the latest undesired update to Twitter/X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk is dipping his toes into the treacherous issue of diplomatic relations, with an aide close to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky slamming the billionaire for his actions in response to Russia’s invasion.

The particular criticism surrounds the use of SpaceX’s Starlink communication satellites in Ukraine, something Musk provided the embattled country not long after the war commenced in February 2022.

In October 2022, it was reported that Starlink could no longer afford the free provision to Ukraine and wanted the US Pentagon to foot the bill, days after Ukrainian ambassador to Brazil, Andrij Melnyk, told Musk to “f*** off” when he ran a poll suggesting the annexed peninsula of Crimea should formally become part of Russia.

“We’re just following his recommendation,” Musk tweeted at the time, before reversing on that stance.

Then, in January, news surfaced of Starlink being limited in Ukraine after it was reportedly used to control drones.

Responding to one Twitter/X user at the end of the month, he wrote: “SpaceX Starlink has become the connectivity backbone of Ukraine all the way up to the front lines. This is the damned if you do part.

“However, we are not allowing Starlink to be used for long-range drone strikes. This is the damned if you don’t part.”

In another tweet, Musk said his company would not “enable [an] escalation of conflict” that may lead to World War Three.

Now, however, an upcoming biography on Elon Musk by author Walter Isaacson – titled, well, Elon Musk – claims the businessman quietly ordered engineers to switch off Starlink near the coast of Crimea to both a Ukrainian attack on Russian warships, because he feared it would push the Kremlin towards starting a nuclear war.

Musk told 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.”

Yet Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Zelensky’s office, wasn’t happy, writing on X: “Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake.

“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.

“As a result, civilians, children are being killed. This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego.”

Ouch.

The Twitter/X owner has since taken to his platform to clarify the situation, claiming: “The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything.”

He continued: “Both sides should agree to a truce. Every day that passes, more Ukrainian and Russian youth die to gain and lose small pieces of land, with borders barely changing.

“This is not worth their lives.”

Elon Musk is due to be published on Tuesday.

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