"Elon Musk said he declined a request to activate Starlink satellite communications around Sevastopol in Russian Crimea, thwarting what he described as an attempt to sink Russian ships.
The billionaire, who won praise from Ukrainian officials for Starlink but recently has drawn their ire over comments around the conflict, said he wanted to prevent his SpaceX company becoming "explicitly complicit in a conflict escalation."
Musk's statements on his X platform, formerly called Twitter, came after excerpts were published from a coming biography that describe his alleged role in preventing a Ukrainian attempt last year to use naval drones to strike Russian ships based in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian officials didn't comment on the details, but Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Thursday on X that, by preventing the attack last year, Musk allowed the fleet to fire cruise missiles at military targets in Ukrainian cities. "This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego," he wrote.
Musk's comments shed light on the delicate decision-making that the world's richest man has faced as his Starlink service has become an increasingly critical part of Ukraine's resistance to Russia. The 52-year-old, who also leads electric vehicle maker Tesla and other ventures, is navigating the tension between his outspoken personality and the business case for an executive to try to remain in the good graces of foreign governments.
SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment.
Starlink, a SpaceX division that uses satellites to provide internet connections, has proved invaluable to communication among front-line Ukrainian units, including small teams who transmit live feeds from aerial drones to spot targets for artillery.
But the relationship soured after Musk complained about the financial burden and made statements on the conflict that echo Kremlin talking points, including a call for peace talks.
Musk sent thousands of Starlink kits to Ukraine after Kyiv requested them in the early days of the events. Analysts said their use would allow SpaceX to test and promote the technology.
At that time, Musk challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Twitter to "single combat" with Ukraine as the stakes. Ukrainian officials heaped praise on Musk, but the relationship soon faltered.
In October, Musk said the company couldn't indefinitely foot the bill to maintain terminals in Ukraine. He changed his mind the next day, tweeting: "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."
Earlier this summer, the Pentagon agreed to pay SpaceX to offer satellite internet in Ukraine. Outside funders also have paid for Starlink user terminals for the country.
Musk also drew criticism in October from Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky, for suggesting that Crimea rightfully belongs to Russia. At the same time, he wrote of concerns that "a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war."
Ukraine has sought to isolate Russian Crimea through long-range missile and drone strikes aimed at undermining Russia's position on the territory and disrupting the flow of logistics to the Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
The campaign has included successful attacks against Russian ships in and around Crimea, including an assault on the fleet in Sevastopol that Russia said damaged a minesweeper. In August, Ukraine reached even farther with a naval-drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port at Novorossiysk that targeted a Russian landing ship and another vessel." [1]
So, Musk prevented high impact surprise attack. Now the novelty of drones is melting. People are learning to deal with them. Sea drones could be stopped even with simple nets.
1. World News: Musk Says He Halted Attack on Russians --- Billionaire wanted to avoid war escalation when he didn't turn on Starlink internet. Malenko, Anastasiia.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 09 Sep 2023: A.6.
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