Elon Musk has become a surprising power player in the Ukraine war, overseeing a vast communications network that is crucial to Kyiv\u2019s fight against Russia.<\/p>\n
A biography of the billionaire published this week shows the extent of Musk\u2019s power, revealing how he exercised his newfound geopolitical power to single-handedly thwart a major Ukrainian raid last year by refusing to extend Starlink capabilities. There are also other reported instances of Musk reducing Ukraine\u2019s capabilities on the battlefield.<\/p>\n
Alp Sevimlisoy, a millennium fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the U.S. \u201cshould definitely be looking at developing\u201d its own capabilities to be less reliant on Musk, though he acknowledged Starlink \u2014 a network of thousands of low-orbit satellites that provide internet to remote regions \u2014 is an \u201cextremely unique\u201d technology that cannot be easily replicated on a fast timetable.<\/p>\n
He called for the U.S. to work more closely with Musk in the meantime to prevent future events like the botched raid.<\/p>\n
The Biden administration has remained largely silent on Musk\u2019s controversial role in Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to comment when asked about Musk turning off Starlink during a CNN interview this week.<\/p>\n
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall refrained from criticizing Musk, but said the Pentagon should draft contracts that would allow more oversight, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re going to rely upon commercial architectures or commercial systems for operational use, then we have to have some assurances that they\u2019re going to be available,\u201d Kendall said Monday at a conference in National Harbor, Md. \u201cWe have to have that. Otherwise, they are a convenience \u2026 in peacetime, but they\u2019re not something we can rely upon in wartime.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest concerns follow Musk floating a Russia-friendly peace plan last fall, and reports that he spoke directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin before releasing the proposal.<\/p>\n
The biography, \u201cElon Musk,\u201d by famed author Walter Isaacson, details how Musk pulled the plug during a Ukrainian raid last year in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.<\/p>\n
Ukrainians were targeting a fleet of Russian ships in the harbor but were unable to attack because Starlink was not extended to the area, according to the book, which was released Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The excerpt of \u201cElon Musk,\u201d published by CNN and The Washington Post, said Ukraine deployed submarine drones to attack the fleet, but the drones lost connectivity and \u201cwashed ashore harmlessly.\u201d The book claimed Musk shut off service over fears of starting a nuclear war.<\/p>\n
Isaacson corrected himself on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter and now owned by Musk, saying the Starlink service was never extended to Crimea. Ukrainians were denied access when they requested it, he said. Musk shared a similar account on X last week.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian raid is not the only instance of Musk intervening in the war. Starlink was unavailable during another unspecified time, in southern Ukraine, forcing Ukrainian soldiers to retreat, according to the New Yorker, which reported that SpaceX deliberately cut off connectivity in certain areas.<\/p>\n
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company has also limited Kyiv\u2019s abilities to connect Starlink with the direct operation of drones, saying at a February conference that Ukraine \u201cleveraged [Starlink] in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s direct involvement in Crimea operations last year has stirred anger in Kyiv. Top advisers and officials working under Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have publicly slammed Musk over the revelations in Isaacson\u2019s book.<\/p>\n
Maksym Skrypchenko, the president of the Transatlantic Dialogue Center, a think tank that advises the Ukrainian government, said Musk handed Russia a \u201ccomparative benefit\u201d by shutting off access to Starlink.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusk just gave Russians another chance to use the Black Sea fleet to execute more attacks and kill more people,\u201d Skrypchenko said. \u201cThe goal was to strike against the fleet, which is the legal military target. Also the narrative about preventing the nuclear war is wrong itself. We have already succeeded in sinking Russian ships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he said Starlink \u201cplays a crucial role in today\u2019s Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting from providing civilians with internet in places where there is no network at all and finishing with giving an ability for our military to communicate with each other in places where ordinary radio talks are either tapped or eavesdropped,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n
The uniqueness and irreplaceability of the technology is putting both Ukraine and the U.S. in a tight spot.<\/p>\n
Nathan Marx, a research fellow at the Center for International Policy focusing on technology and U.S. foreign policy, said Starlink provides a \u201ccapability that\u2019s really, really hard to replace right now\u201d across public and private sectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of other companies who have this massive constellation of very relatively low orbit satellites that Starlink does,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Marx argued that Musk\u2019s power dynamic in Ukraine is a symptom of how much power private companies and defense contractors have over Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wonder how much of this is part of the culture and structure of these companies,\u201d he said. \u201cI do think they have a level of power where they could definitely cause this level of disruption or more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk began supplying Starlink services to Ukraine in early 2022, shortly after Russia wiped out Ukrainian communications technology before the invasion. Over time, the technology has become the communications backbone for Ukrainian forces, helping them stay connected over radio and access internet services.<\/p>\n
Yet Musk has begun to question his role in Ukraine and why his technology was being used for violent means, according to the new book.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow am I in this war?\u201d he asked, according to the biography.<\/p>\n
In fall 2022, Musk announced he would not keep funding Starlink services because of the high cost. Though he eventually relented and said he would keep footing the bill, this sent the Pentagon into a panic, sparking several meetings on how to handle the situation, according to the New Yorker.<\/p>\n
Colin Kahl, the former under secretary of defense for policy, told the magazine they needed assurances Musk \u201ccouldn\u2019t wake up one morning and just decide, like, he didn\u2019t want to do this anymore\u201d and to find a way to \u201clock in services across Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pentagon announced in June that it had agreed to a contract with Musk to fund the Starlink services, though details on the arrangement have been kept under wraps.<\/p>\n
In Russia, Musk\u2019s efforts have been well-received. Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and deputy chair of Russia\u2019s Security Council, praised Musk as the \u201clast adequate mind in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putin himself called Musk an \u201coutstanding person\u201d during remarks Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Russian officials also welcomed Musk\u2019s peace plan shared on X in October, which proposed that Moscow could keep Crimea, and elections would decide the future of four Ukrainian regions illegally occupied by Russia. Musk reportedly spoke with Putin before announcing that peace plan, but the billionaire denies the allegations.<\/p>\n
Sevimlisoy, of the Atlantic Council, said Musk is more aligned with some Republicans who want the war to end and are softening on support for Ukraine. He said Musk wants to be \u201ctaken seriously on the geopolitical front\u201d but is likely being kept at arm\u2019s length in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an institutional desire to keep a distance from Musk in various departments,\u201d Sevimlisoy assessed. \u201cWhat that does is, it pushes him to a perspective of having only his own knowledge to tackle the topics.\u201d<\/p>\n
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