Elon Musk, the billionaire behind tech giants SpaceX and Tesla, may have intervened to prevent a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian navy.
The SpaceX CEO reportedly ordered his engineers to turn off his Starlink satellite network over Russian-occupied Crimea last year to avoid a potential escalation of conflict.
The incident, which occurred early in the war, had the potential to spark a nuclear conflict. The claim comes from a biography of Musk by historian Walter Isaacson, due to be released soon. Officials in Ukraine have criticized Musk’s actions, with an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy taking to X (formerly Twitter) to express his disapproval.
“Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake,” Podolyak wrote.
“By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via #Starlink interference, @elonmusk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities,” he added.