Musk helps Russia in Ukraine War

I am not sure about the technical details, e.g. whether such connectivity "in the bay" was even required for the attack, but Musk himself has said he cut it off during the attack.

Musk acknowledges he turned off Starlink internet access last year during Ukraine attack on Russia military | The Hill

"Elon Musk on Thursday acknowledged turning off internet access from his Starlink satellites during a Ukrainian raid last year on a Russian naval fleet, saying he did so to prevent SpaceX from being “complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”

Musk responded on his social media platform X to new details from an upcoming book that indicated he ordered his engineers to shut off communications network before the attack off the Crimean coast.
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Though the grain of truth in what you said is there was a request to extend the connectivity further. The response was to cut off existing connectivity.

 

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I stand corrected. Cant recall where I read that the coverage never extended to all of Crimea.

 

???? Or maybe not. Musk's tweet

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.

Which would imply that it was never activated all the way to Sevastopol

 

No, he denied the request to "activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol". I should have known not to fall for The Hill propaganda that he "turned off" what was never turned on.

 

Youve not presented anything to support YOUR or the Hill's assertion that he cut off anything. It had never been turned on over Sevastopol .

 

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I think it's splitting hairs, but here's more info on that:

"Musk had already disabled ("geofenced") coverage within 100 km of the Crimean coast before the attack began, and when the Ukrainians discovered this, they asked him to activate the coverage, and he refused. This version reflects that change."

Isaacson posted an explanation on X on September 9, writing "To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not.

"They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet. Musk did not enable it, because he thought, probably correctly, that would cause a major war." Did Elon Musk Turn Off Starlink for Ukraine? What We Know (newsweek.com)

Though I disagree with him it would have led to a major war escalation, he might be correct in thinking the Russians would view his assets as fair game.

 

Id ask why our military hasnt provided Ukraine with satellite coverage to bomb Russian INSIDE of Ukrainian territory, and they had to instead rely upon the generosity of Elon to make it available after the war started.

 

You cant "disable" something that was never abled.

 

It seems it was inaccurate to say anything changed during the attack, but Starlink had previously been limited/disabled/whatever term you prefer in the coastal area. Musk declining to extend service causing the mission to fail, or cutting off service causing the mission to fail, are not really different in any important way. He strove to be neutral, basically. I get it though, he's a businessman not a hero.

 

Correct, it was never turned on over Sevastopol. It was geofenced to Ukraine controlled territory when he turned it on at the beginning of the war.
Do you ever question why The Hill would publish such false propaganda as-
Musk acknowledges he turned off Starlink internet access last year during Ukraine attack on Russia military

Or "Elon Musk on Thursday acknowledged turning off internet access from his Starlink satellites during a Ukrainian raid last year on a Russian naval fleet"

When the tweet clearly states "“There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol,” last year because since 2021 when the invasion occurred and all of 2022 and 2023, it had never been available over Sevastopol. You cant turn off what was never turned on.

 

They had another source, a biographer of Musk, Walter Isaacson, who alleged that access was cut off to thwart the attack. He later stated he was mistaken that it had been decided the night of the attack, but rather had been decided earlier.

I don't think it's nefarious propaganda in part because it's a detail that doesn't actually matter. Musk refused to help Ukraine fight Russia with starlink. Same result either way.

 

"earlier" as in 2020 when Russia first invaded Ukraine. Elon decided to make it only available to territory controlled by Ukraine.

Oh I do. Its obviously purposeful propaganda. AND Musk's providing to all the Ukrainian controlled territory satellite coverage THEY DIDNT HAVE, after the invasion started in 2020 has provided help to Ukraine to fight Russia IN Ukraine, Can probably be argued that without his help and with Biden unwilling to make US satellite coverage available, Elon has changed the outcome of the war.

 

What's the purpose? Musk certainly seemed ambivalent, but providing internet to ukraine was more of a humanitarian effort to help civilians. He didn't want to help either side in the war, he proposed terms to end the war that Ukraine was not happy with at all. He cited fears of escalating the war, and I would imagine being the target of Putin is something to avoid as well. People are mad at him because they want him to help Ukraine, but even if he knows escalating the war is bullshit, he has legit fears for his company and personal safety if seen as heavily pro-Ukraine and having the power to help them.

 

I think had Trump been President he would have encouraged Elon to extend coverage to all of Crimea. Crimea is still a part of Ukraine even though Russia has taken control of the territory with military force during the Obama administration. Would have been a better line to draw.

 

Elon may have had humanitarian motivations but he is smart enough to know the immense help that it would provide to Ukraine in their war against Russia. Just imagine Ukraine trying to defend themselves without internet access which had been completely cut off as a part of Russias original invasion in 2020.

 

Ha, right. Trump would cut off aid to Ukraine and state it's none of our business. Publicly he had said he would try to force both sides to make a peace deal by threats, but it wouldn't work.

 

It's possible, though hard to tell (on purpose), that it's just plausible deniability so he can help Ukraine overall including militarily. But the key is for Putin to see him as not a serious strategic threat.

 

I suspect Putin is furious and believes that but for Elon's provision of internet to all of Ukraine after Putin cut it off in the beginning of the invasion, he would have already defeated Ukraine.

 

How soon you forget that while Obama/Biden wouldnt provide military aid to Ukraine, Trump did so in 2017 after he was elected.

 

And tried to use it as leverage to get dirt on his opponents, lol.

 

1. The US is not at war with Russia, even though Joe Bidden and the neocons think it is.

2. Russia is in a relationship in NATO called: Partnership for peace

3. Maybe if people stopped believing the 'defense' industry-owned media the public would be better informed.

 

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