Elon Musk says SpaceX restricted internet in Ukraine to prevent escalation ‘that may lead to WW3’

SpaceX’s recent Ukrainian military bans access to its satellite internet According to Elon Musk, the service for drone control was to prevent the conflict from escalating into a world war.

SpaceX CEO Musk responds to a former NASA astronaut’s request to restore full access to the Internet for Ukrainian forces Tweeted Late Sunday night: “Starlink is Ukraine’s communications backbone, especially on the front lines, where almost all other internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not allow the conflict to escalate into what could lead to WW3.”

The US space company founded by the billionaire entrepreneur is using its Starlink satellite internet service keep ukraine online Since the start of the war, Ukrainian infrastructure was severely damaged by Russian attacks.

Last week, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell Said The service, which has been used by Ukrainian forces to control drones, “was never meant to be a weapon,” adding that the company had taken steps to prevent its use, without specifying what measures were done.

“The Ukrainians took it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement,” Shotwell said.

The news caused an uproar in Ukraine, with Mykhailo Podolić, an adviser to the Ukrainian president Tweet The companies had to decide whether they were “in favor of Ukraine and its right to independence” or “on”. [Russia’s] The ‘right’ to kill and seize the party and its territories.

Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov told POLITICO that so far there were “no problems” with Starlink terminals in Ukraine, adding that they “save”[d] thousands of lives daily. ,

In one more comment On Sunday, Musk noted that SpaceX’s internet terminals were “for personal use, not military” but that the company “did not practice” [its] Right to shut them down.”

“We’re working hard to do the right thing, where the ‘right thing’ is an extremely difficult ethical question,” Musk said.

The entrepreneur has regularly used Twitter to express his views on the war in Ukraine.

Last October, he raised concerns among Kyiv and allies after posting a series of tweets kremlin talks sites, presenting them as a peace plan. later that monthMusk said he was no longer willing to pay for Starlink terminals in Ukraine, and instead asked the US Department of Defense to pick up the bill.