{"id":294054,"date":"2025-07-26T19:32:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T19:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/294054\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T19:32:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T19:32:30","slug":"elon-musk-ordered-his-starlink-satellites-in-ukraine-to-be-shut-down-as-defenders-launched-attack-on-putin-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/294054\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk ‘ordered his Starlink satellites in Ukraine to be shut down’ as defenders launched attack on Putin troops"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elon Musk<\/a> allegedly ordered Starlink to cut internet services in parts of Ukraine as its troops mounted a crucial counteroffensive just months after the Russian invasion began.<\/p>\n

Musk gave an order that led to a communications blackout, causing the attack to fail, as Ukrainian troops attempted to regain\u00a0Kherson in September 2022, according to Reuters, who spoke with three people familiar with the command.<\/p>\n

The order severely diminished Kyiv<\/a>‘s trust in Starlink,\u00a0the satellite internet service Musk provided early in the war to help Ukraine’s military maintain connection in the battlefield.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Staff at the American tech firm are said to have deactivated at least 100 Starlink terminals after receiving instructions from the billionaire, who told a senior engineer at California<\/a> offices of SpaceX<\/a>, the Musk venture that controls Starlink, to cut coverage.<\/p>\n

It shocked Starlink employees because it allowed Musk to ‘take the outcome of a war into his own hands’, one of the sources familiar with the command said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The blackout also affected other areas seized by Russia<\/a>, including some of Donetsk.<\/p>\n

Although Ukraine reclaimed Kherson in November 2022, Musk’s order directly contributed to their failure when they launched their earlier mission.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian troops suddenly faced a communications blackout, causing soldiers to panic.<\/p>\n

\"Elon <\/p>\n

Elon Musk allegedly ordered Starlink to cut internet services in parts of Ukraine as its troops mounted a crucial counteroffensive just months after the Russian invasion began<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The order severely diminished Kyiv’s trust in Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided early on into the war<\/p>\n

\"Although <\/p>\n

Although Ukraine reclaimed Kherson in November 2022, Musk’s order two months earlier directly contributed to their failure<\/p>\n

Drones surveilling Russian forces went dark, and long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets,\u00a0according to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, and two others who experienced Starlink failure near the front lines.<\/p>\n

Troops therefore failed to surround a Russian position in the town of Beryslav, east of Kherson.<\/p>\n

The encirclement stalled entirely, said the military official in an interview. ‘It failed.’<\/p>\n

It is the first known instance of the billionaire actively shutting off Starlink coverage over a battlefield during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision to cut the network is thought to have come from Musk’s fears that advances by Ukraine might have provoked a Russian nuclear retaliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A spokesman for SpaceX, the aerospace company that owns Starlink, told Reuters the account of the incident\u00a0is ‘inaccurate’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian ministry of defence has been approached for comment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The account contravenes Musk’s narrative of how he has handled Starlink services during the war.<\/p>\n

\"Musk <\/p>\n

Musk gave an order that led to a communications blackout, causing the attack to fail, as Ukrainian troops attempted to regain Kherson<\/p>\n

\"It <\/p>\n

It is the first known instance of the billionaire actively shutting off Starlink coverage over a battlefield during the Russia-Ukraine conflict<\/p>\n

\"President <\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly expressed gratitude to Musk for Starlink earlier this year<\/p>\n

In March, in a post on X, the American wrote: ‘We would never do such a thing.’<\/p>\n

‘To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals,’ he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Musk did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment.<\/p>\n

Starlink continues to provide service to Ukraine, and its military relies on it for some connectivity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly expressed gratitude to Musk for Starlink earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also provides customers with internet access in remote and unreliable locations across the world.<\/p>\n

Zelensky uses the network to transmit broadcasts to the nation and it is also used to allow Ukrainians to speak to relatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Musk has previously boasted of Starlink’s importance to Kyiv. ‘My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army,’ he wrote on X in March. ‘Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Starlink <\/p>\n

Starlink continues to provide service to Ukraine, and its military relies on it for some connectivity<\/p>\n

\"Britain <\/p>\n

Britain began using Starlink for ‘welfare purposes’, including for personal communications for troops, in 2022<\/p>\n

\"President <\/p>\n

President Zelensky uses the network to transmit broadcasts to the nation and it is also used to allow Ukrainians to speak to relatives<\/p>\n

It is the world’s largest satellite operator with 8,000 in orbit and gives Musk enormous geopolitical power with political leaders, governments and militaries worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some Western militaries, including Britain’s armed forces, are using Starlink.<\/p>\n

Britain began using it for ‘welfare purposes’, including for personal communications for troops, in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defence said it has fewer than 1,000 Starlink terminals and doesn’t employ them for sensitive military communications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spain’s navy is also using Starlink, but only for recreation and leisure of troops.<\/p>\n

Musk was previously accused of switching off the network in Ukraine, in the biography of billionaire author Walter Isaacson.<\/p>\n

Musk believed a planned Ukrainian attack on Russian vessels in the Crimean port of Sevastopol could prompt nuclear retaliation, Isaacson wrote.<\/p>\n

The American billionaire denied a shutdown and Isaacson later admitted his account was inaccurate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Staff <\/p>\n

Staff at the American tech firm are said to have deactivated at least 100 Starlink terminals after receiving instructions from the billionaire<\/p>\n

\"SpaceX <\/p>\n

SpaceX is the first company to establish an extensive network of communication satellites in low-Earth orbit<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The accusations also raise questions about the unchecked influence of Musk, an unelected billionaire, on global politics<\/p>\n

As of April 2025, Kyiv has more than 50,000 Starlink terminals circling the globe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The accusations also raise questions about the unchecked influence of Musk, an unelected billionaire, on global politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho said Musk’s ‘current global dominance exemplifies the dangers of concentrated power in unregulated domains’, in a debate in the House of Lords earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, wrote on X that ‘if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers’.<\/p>\n

Poland pays for much of Ukraine’s Starlink connectivity alongside the US and Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SpaceX is the first company to establish an extensive network of communication satellites in low-Earth orbit, a region of space that is closer to the planet than areas where satellites have historically resided.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elon Musk allegedly ordered Starlink to cut internet services in parts of Ukraine as its troops mounted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[92,295,2000,299,12,332,1603,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-294054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-elon-musk","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-russia","14":"tag-spacex","15":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114921206616850155","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}