Musk turned off Starlink over Crimea: Top Kiev intelligence officer

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Sep 2023 18:41

Elon Musk said he refused a Ukrainian request to activate his Starlink satellite network in Crimea's port city of Sevastopol last year to aid an attack on Russia's fleet there.

A SpaceX Starlink satellite is seen passing in the night sky in April 2020 (AFP)

Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence department, has stated that US entrepreneur Elon Musk had turned off his Starlink satellite network over Crimea.

Earlier this week, the Spanish newspaper El Pais stated that, while Kiev has discovered alternatives to the internet provided by Starlink satellites, it could not break up with Musk's company because it would result in the collapse of the Ukrainian defense.

In early September, US media alleged, citing Walter Isaacson's biography of Musk, that the US billionaire had instructed his engineers to turn down Starlink coverage over Crimea, which had hampered Kiev's attack on the Russian fleet on Sevastopol last year.

Musk rejected this, claiming that Starlink coverage over Crimea was never activated in the first place, despite Kiev's request. The tycoon stated that he never intended for Starlink satellites to be used to escalate the battle, which could lead to a third global war.

"It is true that he did turn off his products and services over Crimea before. But there's another side to that truth. Everybody's been aware of that ... This specific case everybody's referring to, there was a shutdown of the coverage over Crimea, but it wasn't at that specific moment. That shutdown was for a month," Budanov told The War Zone magazine, adding that "throughout the whole first period" of the conflict there was no satellite coverage at all.

He also stated that Kiev makes extensive use of Musk's products and services and that shutting them down would be "catastrophic."

The Pentagon announced in April that it was in talks with Starlink about the satellite communication services offered to Ukraine after Musk stated that he was considering discontinuing the supply because it was too difficult to sustain without government backing. Musk later reversed his position and stated that his company would continue to provide services to Ukraine.

Starlink is a next-generation satellite network launched by SpaceX in February 2018 with the goal of providing global broadband internet access. Since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Starlink stations have provided Ukrainian forces with satellite internet connectivity. However, SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell stated in March that the business had taken steps to prohibit Ukraine's use of its Starlink satellites for military objectives, such as commanding drones.

Earlier last month, according to a US source, Elon Musk caused Ukraine to abandon a planned naval drone strike in the Black Sea by withholding access to the Starlink satellite network.

The Ukrainian military was thus unable to remotely pilot an explosive-laden drone into a Russian ship in Crimea. In addition, Musk has formerly stated that he does not want Starlink to be used for long-range offensive operations.

The New York Times reported that General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the chief of Ukraine's armed forces, expressed his concern to US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as Kiev's senior general informed him that his soldiers' access to Starlink had been impeded on several occasions.