Key takeaways:
- Elon Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his Starlink satellite network over Russian-occupied Crimea last year to prevent a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s naval fleet.
- Musk declined Kyiv’s request to activate internet access in the Black Sea near Moscow-annexed Crimea.
- The news of Musk’s decision has been met with criticism from Ukraine, but some have praised Musk for his decision, saying that it was a “wise move” that prevented a potentially devastating conflict.
According to excerpts from a soon-to-be-released biography of Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his Starlink satellite network over Russian-occupied Crimea last year in order to prevent a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s naval fleet.
The attack, which was planned to occur early in the war, could have escalated tensions and potentially led to nuclear conflict, according to the extract from historian Walter Isaacson’s upcoming book. Musk was reportedly worried about this and declined Kyiv’s request to activate internet access in the Black Sea near Moscow-annexed Crimea.
In a post on X, Musk said, “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.”
The news of Musk’s decision has been met with criticism from Ukraine, who accused him of “undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. However, some have praised Musk for his decision, saying that it was a “wise move” that prevented a potentially devastating conflict.
Musk has yet to comment on the matter, but the full details of the incident will be revealed in Isaacson’s upcoming biography.
Be First to Comment