Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Elon Musk considered pulling plug on Ukraine’s Starlink access after ‘great conversation with Putin’

Joe Barnes
Mon, August 21, 2023 

Elon Musk said he could see the 'entire war unfolding' through a map of Starlink activity 


Elon Musk pondered pulling Starlink satellite internet from Ukraine because he feared being perceived as a warmonger in Russia, a former Pentagon official has said.

The 52 year-old South African-born billionaire expressed his concerns after Ukrainian forces reported network outages close to the front lines separating them from their Russian occupiers.

Colin Kahl, a US undersecretary of defence for policy until last month, was charged with brokering a deal to prevent Mr Musk from turning the system off altogether.

“If you turn this off, it doesn’t end the war,” Mr Kahl recalled telling the SpaceX chief, in an interview with The New Yorker.

“My inference was that he was getting nervous that Starlink’s involvement was increasingly seen in Russia as enabling the Ukrainian war effort, and was looking for a way to placate Russian concerns,” the former US official added.

Ukrainian Territorial Defence near Kherson Front using the Starlink system - JULIAN SIMMONDS

Last year, Mr Musk was accused of publishing a Kremlin-friendly peace proposal, suggesting Ukraine should mirror sovereignty referendums organised by Russia in regions it occupied.

The outages were felt hardest in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The four Ukrainian oblasts, parts of which were occupied by Russian forces, were all claimed as part of Russia after referendums staged by Kremlin proxies.

Mr Musk told Pentagon officials during negotiations over Starlink that he had held personal talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, the New Yorker reported.

Satellite terminals donated by Mr Musk’s SpaceX, as well as the US government and private donors, have become vital to Ukrainian military communications.

The “constellation” of satellites, operated by Mr Musk’s SpaceX firm, are used to coordinate drone and artillery strikes, stream live video from the battlefield and gather intelligence.


Ukraine says the communications system is vital to their defence networks - ArmyInform

Mr Musk boasted that he could see the “entire war unfolding” through a map of Starlink activity. He told Mr Kahl that live information had made him hesitate over whether his satellite internet system was being used for peaceful means or to wage war.

“This was, like, three minutes before he said, ‘well, I had this great conversation with Putin’,” Mr Kahl said.

Offensive capabilities

The technology entrepreneur has long-held reservations over his system being used for offensive capabilities. It was recently reported he had forced Ukraine to drop a planned naval drone strike in the Black Sea by refusing access to the Starlink network around occupied Crimea.

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s top general, has said his military’s success was dependent on continued access to the system.

Aides to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky have previously attempted to ease Mr Musk’s concerns by telling him the system is “about defence, advancement, and survival”, a source told The Telegraph.

Mr Musk has also baulked at the cost of providing the system, which was estimated at nearly $400 million (£310 million) for a 12-month period, according to a report by CNN.

In June, the Pentagon announced it had reached a deal with SpaceX to maintain the system’s use in Ukraine, without disclosing the terms of the agreement.

The pact, which is believed to give Ukraine unabridged access to the system, is seen as a step away from Mr Musk having a significant role in the battlefield as Kyiv’s counter-offensive continues.

The Telegraph has approached representatives of Mr Musk and SpaceX for comment.

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