Elon Musk has allegedly twice interfered in favour of Russia against Ukraine, fearing the use of nuclear weapons. But who does he think he is? | Credit: Brian Jason/Shutterstock
On September 30, 2022, the Ukrainian army was poised to score a massive military victory against Russia, but reportedly fearing a Russian nuclear retaliation, Elon Musk decided to determine the outcome of the conflict.
On that day, Musk allegedly ordered his staff at Starlink to shut down internet services in parts of Ukraine as its troops mounted a crucial counteroffensive just months after the Russian invasion began.
Musk’s order led to a military communications blackout in Ukraine, causing their attack to fail, as their troops attempted to regain Kherson in September 2022, according to Reuters, who spoke with three people familiar with the command.
‘Musk feared a Russian nuclear retaliation’
The order severely undermined Kyiv’s trust in Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided early in the war to help Ukraine’s military maintain connection on the battlefield.
“The three people familiar with the order said they believed it stemmed from concerns Musk expressed later that Ukrainian advances could provoke nuclear retaliation from Russia,” Reuters asserted.
Several senior U.S. officials shared Musk’s concerns that Russia would follow through on its threats to escalate and resort to nuclear weapons, one former White House staffer told Reuters.
“Musk’s order was an early glimpse of the power the magnate now wields in geopolitics and global security because of Starlink, a fast-growing satellite internet service that barely existed early this decade and now provides connectivity even in remote areas of the world,” Reuters said.
Musk’s excessive influence and power
Even before his brief role as financial backer and advisor to US President Donald Trump, the success of Starlink – and the unrivalled connectivity it offers across the planet – had given Musk increasing influence with political leaders, governments and militaries worldwide, the British news agency added.
Several US regulators and lawmakers are highly concerned about Musk’s influence in military affairs in Washington and beyond, due to Starlink’s dominance in satellite communications and SpaceX’s clout in space launches. Musk currently possesses certain powers that were previously exclusive to sovereign governments, as noted by Reuters.
“Elon Musk’s current global dominance exemplifies the dangers of concentrated power in unregulated domains,” Martha Lane Fox, a member of Britain’s upper house of parliament, said during a debate earlier this year. The parliamentarian is a businesswoman and former board member at Twitter, the social media site that Musk acquired in 2022 and rebranded as X.
“Its control,” Lane Fox said of Starlink, “rests solely with Musk, allowing his whims to dictate access to vital infrastructure.”
He interfered in Crimea as well
In his 2023 biography of Musk, author Walter Isaacson wrote that the world’s wealthiest and one of the most influential persons had ordered Starlink to disable coverage in Crimea, which Russia had annexed from Ukraine after a 2014 invasion.
Isaacson said Musk believed a planned Ukrainian attack on Russian vessels in the Crimean port of Sevastopol could prompt nuclear retaliation.
