Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, engaged in a heated online exchange with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over the role and funding of Starlink, the satellite internet service widely used by the Ukrainian military.
” Their full front line would decline if I turned it off”, Musk had written on X. ” What I am sickened by is years of murder in a standoff that Ukraine does eventually lose”.
Sikorski pushed back, claiming Poland’s Digitisation Ministry covered about$ 50 million per year for Ukraine’s Starlink access. ” The morality of threatening the prey of aggression off, if SpaceX proves to be an uncertain service, we will be forced to look for another vendors”, he wrote.
Musk dismissed Sikorski’s notes, responding,” Be quiet, modest man. You pay a small fraction of the cost. And there is no replacement for Starlink”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio even weighed in, defending Musk. ” No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink”, he said. ” And say thank you because without Starlink, Ukraine may have lost this battle much before, and Russians would be on the frontier with Poland right now”.
Starlink, developed by SpaceX, aims to deliver high-speed internet to rural and underserved areas, including conflict areas globe. Starlink stations have been essential to Ukraine’s military activities, providing essential connection since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
The exchange comes amid shifting US policy on the war. Last week, President Donald Trump suspended weapons deliveries to Ukraine and restricted intelligence sharing, arguing that Kyiv should engage in peace talks with Russia. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had also condemned the decision. ” This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians”, he had said on X. ” More bombs, more aggression, more victims. Another tragic night in Ukraine”.
