Did Elon Musk order the 2022 Starlink shutdown in Ukraine? What SpaceX said
In a report published by news agency Reuters, Elon Musk reportedly told senior engineers in SpaceX's California offices to cut coverage in areas, including Kherson, which was a key region Ukraine was trying to reclaim in 2022.
Three people familiar with the command told Reuters that it was Musk's decision to cut the comms and at least a hundred Starlink terminals were deactivated.
The report further added that Musk's alleged order resulted in a communications blackout for Ukrainian troops.
Soldiers panicked, drones surveilling Russian forces went dark, and long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets, officials from the Ukrainian military told Reuters, adding that due to this, the operation to reclaim Kherson failed.
Sources further told Reuters that one of the major reason behind this comms outage was Musk's fear of a possible nuclear response from Russia.
Reuters' report on Musk's alleged order comes a day after Starlink witnessed a massive global outage, where thousands lost connectivity.
Starlink confirmed the global disruption and Elon Musk took to X to apologise for the outage. "Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn't happen again," wrote Musk.
SpaceX denies Ukraine outage report
While an official statement has not been released, SpaceX has denied claims that Elon Musk ordered a comms shutdown during the Ukraine war.
In an email to Reuters regarding the news agency's queries, a SpaceX spokesperson called the findings of the report "inaccurate."
The spokesperson further referred to an earlier X post by the Musk-led company: 'Starlink is fully committed to providing service to Ukraine.'
When the initial reports of this alleged deliberate outage surfaced, Musk also took to X in March and stated that Starlink "would never do such a thing."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
50% tariff by Trump will have severe impact on India, says TMC's Abhishek Banerjee; blames BJP govt's ‘failed foreign policy'
TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP-led central government over the recent imposition of a 50% tariff on Indian goods by former US President Donald Trump. Speaking at the Kolkata airport, Banerjee called it a direct fallout of the PM Modi government's 'failed foreign policy and diplomatic missteps.' 'In 2019, Modi campaigned for Trump in Texas. In 2020, Trump visited Gujarat and Modi called him 'my friend and India's friend, Donald Trump.' Now the same Trump has imposed this tariff. Those who campaigned for him should answer why this has happened,' Banerjee said. 'The onus is on the Prime Minister and the NDA government, not the Trinamool Congress, to answer for this diplomatic failure,' he added. Banerjee also condemned Trump's reported remark that India's economy is 'dead,' but said the economy is in the ICU. 'I do not agree that India's economy is dead. No one has the power to kill the Indian economy. It is surviving on the love and affection of 140 crore Indians. I can say the Indian economy is in the ICU. From bad, it has become worse in the last ten years. And by imposing a 50% tariff, there will be substantial job loss. Exports will come down. And this is all because of the poor foreign policy of the Indian government,' he said. He warned that the tariff would severely affect India's IT, pharmaceutical and textile sectors. 'Exports will be affected, especially in three industries – IT, pharmaceuticals and textiles. The services around these sectors will also be impacted… India should respond firmly to this,' Banerjee said. Framing the issue as a broader diplomatic and strategic failure, he added: 'Those who want to weaken India and create pressure—how did they suddenly become so powerful? The government that used to boast about its '56-inch chest', despite being in power, has been snubbed by China, the US, and many other countries.' Banerjee said he did not wish to speak about these matters publicly but felt compelled to do so. 'I was part of the all-party delegation and visited five countries. A multilateral forum like ASEAN consists of 11 countries. It includes Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, among others. Let alone putting pressure on Pakistan, they did not even issue a statement condemning Pakistan's actions,' he said. He also brought up national security concerns, citing incidents in Pulwama and Pahalgam, and questioned the government's approach to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). 'The Home Minister said on the floor of the House that PoK is part of India. But what action has been taken? If there's no action, countries will continue to weaken India and create pressure,' Banerjee said. Turning to domestic issues, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of working in favour of the BJP and overstepping its mandate. 'The ECI is working months ahead of the election, which is still 10-11 months away, only to prevent the elected state government from functioning,' he said. He alleged that the ECI was trying to disenfranchise 'genuine Bengalis' and called its actions a 'shameless role' for a supposedly impartial institution. He also accused the Central government of misusing investigative agencies and the judiciary to undermine the Bengal government, citing over 50 CBI cases since 2021. Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics. With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences. Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More
New Indian Express
26 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Putin-Trump meeting agreed on, as Ukraine signals growing push for peace
WASHINGTON: The Kremlin said Thursday that a meeting in the coming days between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump has been agreed on, as a new Gallup poll found that Ukrainians are increasingly eager for a settlement that ends the fight against Russia's invasion. Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the two sides are working on setting up a meeting, and that a venue for the meeting has been agreed on and will be announced later. A meeting between Putin and Trump would be their first since Trump returned to office this year. It would be a significant milestone in the more than 3-year-old war, though there's no promise such a meeting would lead to the end of the fighting, since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on their demands.
Hans India
26 minutes ago
- Hans India
Trump mocking PM Modi repeatedly; govt unable to give strong response: Uddhav
New Delhi: Shiv Sena-UBT supremo Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday hit out at the BJP-led NDA government, saying US President Donald Trump was "mocking" Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was "unable" to give a strong reply. At a press conference, he alleged that Modi and Amit Shah were behaving like propaganda ministers of the BJP while the nation needed a prime minister and a home minister to deal with extant challenges. "Trump is mocking India and Narendra Modi. We are unable to respond to him, let alone seek answers from him. This government has failed on the foreign policy front. "The nation needs a strong prime minister, a strong home minister, defence minister and external affairs minister," the former Maharashtra chief minister said. Thackeray's remarks came in the wake of Trump on Wednesday slapping an additional 25 per cent tariff, raising the total duties to 50 per cent on goods coming from India, as a penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. "Today, the prime minister, home minister, and defence minister function more as propaganda ministers for the BJP. Had Modi been the nation's prime minister, he would have visited Pahalgam, but he chose to visit Bihar," Thackeray said. He said the Shiv Sena-UBT was committed to the opposition INDIA bloc grouping and dismissed suggestions that his party would go it alone after reuniting with his cousin Raj Thackeray, the founder of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). "There is no need to talk about Raj Thackeray. There are no conditions attached for being part of the opposition INDIA bloc. As far as Raj is concerned, we two brothers are steadfast in our approach. We both will take care of it," Thackeray said. The Shiv Sena-UBT supremo is in the national capital to participate in the meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc convened by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. This is the first in-person meeting of the opposition alliance since its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections last year. Thackeray refused to speculate on probable candidates for the vice presidential election, including whether Shiv Sena-UBT would support the NDA nominee if he or she is a Marathi-speaking person. "We will talk about these possibilities when we know about it. Right now, we want to know why the vice president was removed from office. Where is the (former) vice president now? This is the issue that should be discussed," Thackeray said. He slammed the Election Commission for rolling out the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and wondered whether the National Register of Citizens was being brought in through the back door. Thackeray also slammed the poll authority for declaring that VVPAT machines will not be used during the local bodies elections in Maharashtra later this year. "VVPATs were introduced when doubts were raised about EVMs. Now, why should you even go through the process of holding an election? You can announce the winner straightaway. We do not know whom we have voted for, why hold elections," he said. Thackeray refused to comment on Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is also in the national capital to meet the prime minister and the home minister. "A traitor is a traitor. I do not give them much importance. He may have come to meet his masters," Thackeray said.
