Last year, Elon Musk reportedly intervened to prevent a Ukrainian attack on Crimea out of concern for the potential escalation into a nuclear war. According to an excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s upcoming biography of Musk, the Ukrainian drones lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly as they approached the Crimean coast. It was revealed that Musk had secretly ordered SpaceX engineers to shut off the Starlink signal near Crimea, believing that Russia might retaliate with nuclear weapons, referring to it as a “mini-Pearl Harbor.”
The Ukrainian Digital Transformation Minister, Mikhail Fedorov, pleaded with Musk to turn the signal back on, providing details about the sea drones’ capabilities. However, Musk refused, stating that Ukraine was going too far and inviting strategic defeat by attacking Crimea. The information about the aborted drone strike was initially reported by the New York Times, but the specifics of the exchange with Fedorov were not disclosed until now.
In an effort to provide internet access and communications to civilians, SpaceX had donated over 20,000 Starlink terminals to Kiev since February 2022. However, these systems were quickly weaponized, leading Musk to face scrutiny from both Moscow and Washington. Isaacson quotes Musk expressing his frustration, questioning how he became involved in this war, as Starlink was intended for peaceful purposes such as watching Netflix and accessing education resources.
Following the attempted attack on Crimea, Musk informed the Pentagon that Starlink would cease donating its services to Ukraine. However, when this plan was leaked to CNN, Musk publicly changed his stance on Twitter, announcing that they would continue funding the Ukrainian government for free. This reversal came after SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell revealed that the Pentagon had prepared a $145 million check for Musk, which he decided not to accept due to the negative publicity surrounding the incident.
According to the biography, SpaceX later secured funding from the US and certain EU governments to provide an additional 100,000 satellite dishes for Ukraine in early 2023. Musk emphasized that SpaceX would not enable the escalation of a conflict that could potentially lead to World War III, including the use of Starlink for long-range drone strikes.
Throughout the day, Musk remained quiet about the CNN story until he took to X (formerly Twitter) to provide clarification. He stated that SpaceX did not deactivate anything, but rather Ukraine had requested the activation of the Starlink signal all the way to Sevastopol, with the intention of sinking a significant portion of the Russian fleet. Musk argued that agreeing to this request would make SpaceX explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.
Walter Isaacson, the author of the upcoming biography, is a respected figure in the field of history and biography. He has previously written acclaimed biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger, and Steve Jobs. His work offers an in-depth look at the life and decisions of Elon Musk during this tense episode between Ukraine and Russia.
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