Ukraine has been learning a hard lesson about Elon Musk, he is a man who has meant every single thing he has said when it comes to using Starlink.
With Kyiv trying to get Russia to start feeling the sting of war, they have been sending drones in to bomb Moscow. Part of this was done twice with the use of Starlink. Upon hearing the news, Musk terminated their long-range drone connections.
Per a report from the New York Times, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, has been raising a stink with US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. This complaint came hot on the heels of Musk’s latest refusal to play ball. He believes it is providing undue and unlawful influence over the war. The piece went on to claim they had sources who say Musk is the ultimate decision maker there, and everything concerning this is run through him.
Starlink has been blocked out from drone strikes, recapturing land via geofencing, and other armed maleficence reasons. These blocks go hand in hand with his tweet reading “We are not allowing Starlink to be used for long-range drone strikes.” Being incredibly direct and to the point, he has made no bones about what he expects Skylink to be used for.
By keeping lines of communication and web access open to people in Ukraine, Musk allowed many who were forced to flee to stay in contact with loved ones. For troops, getting words home or even communicating movements over secured lines was established. Something their military has yet to do (unlike ours). This was the missing piece they needed that Russia had. But he didn’t want it weaponized. Much like AI, Musk sees the risks and finds himself uncomfortable with them.
If Ukraine doesn’t like it, they can launch their networks. God knows Biden has been sending them the tools and weapons for everything else. Not to mention the mountains of cash.
