Bombshell biography claim: Fearing nuclear war, Musk switched off Starlink to stymie Ukraine attack on Russia
(2023/09/08)
- Reference: 1694131151
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/07/musk_biography_excerpt/
- Source link:
Elon Musk personally ordered SpaceX’s Starlink to stop its satellite broadband service in Ukraine, scuttling a major offensive operation by the nation against Russia, according to a biography about the billionaire tycoon.
An excerpt from the forthcoming tome by Walter Isaacson, titled Elon Musk and [1]shared with CNN, revealed that in 2022 Ukraine planned an attack against Russian naval ships near Crimea. But as Ukraine’s explosive-laden submarine drones approached Russia's warships, they "lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly," the book claimed.
SpaceX CEO Musk was the reason for the lost signal: he cut off the Starlink connectivity the drones were relying upon because he feared a "mini-Pearl Harbor" would take place, according to Isaacson in his book.
[2]
Earlier conversations with Russian officials had convinced Musk that the Kremlin would retaliate against such a Ukrainian attack with nuclear weapons, the biographer claimed.
[3]
[4]
The incident also allegedly led Musk to deny Ukrainian requests for additional Starlink systems that could be used for offensive purposes against Russia.
The book, set to go on sale next week, follows February [5]remarks by SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell that Ukraine had "leveraged [Starlink] in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement."
[6]
Shotwell didn't provide specifics about what these unacceptable uses were. But Reuters at the time noted she was referring to Ukraine using the satellite broadband service to [7]remotely control drones — which is in accord with Isaacson's account in his latest book.
The excerpt carried by CNN includes the following:
"How am I in this war?" Musk asks Isaacson. "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."
Meanwhile, Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister of Ukraine, was reportedly texting Musk and begging him to restore connectivity. "I just want you — the person who is changing the world through technology — to know this," Fedorov told Musk, according to Isaacson's account.
We have asked Starlink for further comment.
[8]Starlink bags US defense contract to keep war-torn Ukraine connected
[9]SpaceX cuts off Ukraine's 'offensive' Starlink use
[10]SpaceX lobs second-gen Starlink satellites into orbit
[11]Kremlin-backed Sandworm strikes Android devices with data-stealing Infamous Chisel
SpaceX has donated Starlink terminals and satellite comms service to the Ukraine government since Russia’s invasion commenced in February 2022.
Musk, however, has been ambivalent about that support.
He wasn't happy his biz had lost what was claimed to be [12]$80 million as of October 2022 by giving away stuff to Ukraine, and threatened to stop supplying the country with free Starlink equipment and broadband plans. We note the US federal government had purchased some equipment from Starlink to send to Ukraine on top of the biz's donations.
[13]
Then, in typical Musk fashion, he changed his mind with a [14]tweet : "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."
Isaacson also discusses this outburst in the upcoming biography and reports that Shotwell was none too happy with Musk's reversal.
"The Pentagon had a $145 million check ready to hand to me, literally," Isaacson quotes Shotwell as saying. "Then Elon succumbed to the bullshit on Twitter and to the haters at the Pentagon who leaked the story."
SpaceX has since secured [15]major contracts with the Pentagon to send Starlink systems to Ukraine.
On Wednesday the US Department of Defense announced an additional [16]$175 million security assistance package to help Ukraine counter Russia's invasion, but it's unclear if any of these funds will make their way to SpaceX's coffers. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink/index.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/09/spacex_starlink_ukraine_offensive/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/spacex-curbed-ukraines-use-starlink-internet-drones-company-president-2023-02-09/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/starlink_ukraine_defense_contract/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/09/spacex_starlink_ukraine_offensive/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/28/spacex_starlink_satellites/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/31/sandworm_infamous_chisel/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/spacex_reports/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1581345747777179651
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/starlink_ukraine_defense_contract/
[16] https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3517088/dod-announces-175m-in-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
An excerpt from the forthcoming tome by Walter Isaacson, titled Elon Musk and [1]shared with CNN, revealed that in 2022 Ukraine planned an attack against Russian naval ships near Crimea. But as Ukraine’s explosive-laden submarine drones approached Russia's warships, they "lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly," the book claimed.
SpaceX CEO Musk was the reason for the lost signal: he cut off the Starlink connectivity the drones were relying upon because he feared a "mini-Pearl Harbor" would take place, according to Isaacson in his book.
[2]
Earlier conversations with Russian officials had convinced Musk that the Kremlin would retaliate against such a Ukrainian attack with nuclear weapons, the biographer claimed.
[3]
[4]
The incident also allegedly led Musk to deny Ukrainian requests for additional Starlink systems that could be used for offensive purposes against Russia.
The book, set to go on sale next week, follows February [5]remarks by SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell that Ukraine had "leveraged [Starlink] in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement."
[6]
Shotwell didn't provide specifics about what these unacceptable uses were. But Reuters at the time noted she was referring to Ukraine using the satellite broadband service to [7]remotely control drones — which is in accord with Isaacson's account in his latest book.
The excerpt carried by CNN includes the following:
"How am I in this war?" Musk asks Isaacson. "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."
Meanwhile, Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister of Ukraine, was reportedly texting Musk and begging him to restore connectivity. "I just want you — the person who is changing the world through technology — to know this," Fedorov told Musk, according to Isaacson's account.
We have asked Starlink for further comment.
[8]Starlink bags US defense contract to keep war-torn Ukraine connected
[9]SpaceX cuts off Ukraine's 'offensive' Starlink use
[10]SpaceX lobs second-gen Starlink satellites into orbit
[11]Kremlin-backed Sandworm strikes Android devices with data-stealing Infamous Chisel
SpaceX has donated Starlink terminals and satellite comms service to the Ukraine government since Russia’s invasion commenced in February 2022.
Musk, however, has been ambivalent about that support.
He wasn't happy his biz had lost what was claimed to be [12]$80 million as of October 2022 by giving away stuff to Ukraine, and threatened to stop supplying the country with free Starlink equipment and broadband plans. We note the US federal government had purchased some equipment from Starlink to send to Ukraine on top of the biz's donations.
[13]
Then, in typical Musk fashion, he changed his mind with a [14]tweet : "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."
Isaacson also discusses this outburst in the upcoming biography and reports that Shotwell was none too happy with Musk's reversal.
"The Pentagon had a $145 million check ready to hand to me, literally," Isaacson quotes Shotwell as saying. "Then Elon succumbed to the bullshit on Twitter and to the haters at the Pentagon who leaked the story."
SpaceX has since secured [15]major contracts with the Pentagon to send Starlink systems to Ukraine.
On Wednesday the US Department of Defense announced an additional [16]$175 million security assistance package to help Ukraine counter Russia's invasion, but it's unclear if any of these funds will make their way to SpaceX's coffers. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink/index.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/09/spacex_starlink_ukraine_offensive/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/spacex-curbed-ukraines-use-starlink-internet-drones-company-president-2023-02-09/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/starlink_ukraine_defense_contract/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/09/spacex_starlink_ukraine_offensive/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/28/spacex_starlink_satellites/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/31/sandworm_infamous_chisel/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/spacex_reports/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZPqcY9PBNF@b4leqd6QHxAAAAYQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1581345747777179651
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/starlink_ukraine_defense_contract/
[16] https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3517088/dod-announces-175m-in-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
So Musk has blood on his hands
Anonymous Coward
What else is new?
WTF?
jake
Interfering with a sovereign nation in wartime?
Not sure His Muskness should be confessing to warcrimes like that.
Re: WTF?
Jim Mitchell
This isn't a war crime.
A. Coatsworth
Sooo... how did Musk know exactly when to cut comms? was he eavesdropping on all Starlinks? or Ukraine had the great idea of inform him of their military actions?
The whole story is more than a bit musky...
So Musk has NOW entered the Ukranian war.......
Sentar
And it seems he is on he Russian side.
As for any MUSK companies they now no longer have mt support and sales FINISHED.
Musk wanted the positive publicity from donating Starlink systems to them
DS999
But it came with strings that they could apparently only be used in ways he approved.
What I'd like to know is how could he have possibly known about the drone attack on Russian ships as it was happening? Did he have someone in Ukraine's military telling him about their plans? If so, I hope that idiot was fired.
That’s a pretty explosive claim (pun not intended) and sad if true.