Mastodawn

Mr.Tetris Jul 25, 2025

We all suspected it, now it’s confirmed.

#Musk ordered shutdown of #Starlink satellite service as #Ukraine retook territory from #Russia

A previously unreported order by #ElonMusk to cut satellite #communications over a portion of Ukraine disrupted a counteroffensive by Kyiv in the autumn of 2022. Reuters investigated the billionaire's order & its implications for countries increasingly reliant on his Starlink internet service.

#power #corruption #oligarchy
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/musk-ordered-shutdown-starlink-satellite-service-ukraine-retook-territory-russia-2025-07-25/

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

During a pivotal push by #Ukraine to retake territory from #Russia in late Sept 2022, #ElonMusk gave an order that disrupted the counteroffensive & dented Kyiv’s trust in #Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided to help Ukraine’s military maintain battlefield connectivity.

Acc/to 3 people familiar with the command, #Musk told a senior engineer at the California offices of #SpaceX to cut coverage in areas including #Kherson, a strategic region north of the #BlackSea.

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

“We have to do this,” Michael Nicolls, the #Starlink engineer, told colleagues upon receiving the order from #Musk, one of these people said. Staffers complied, the 3 people told Reuters, deactivating at least a hundred Starlink terminals, their hexagon-shaped cells going dark on an internal map of the company’s coverage. The move also affected other areas seized by #Russia, including some of #Donetsk province further east.

#power #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

Upon #Musk’s order, #Ukraine troops suddenly faced a #communications #blackout, acc/to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, & 2 others who experienced #Starlink failure near the front lines. Soldiers panicked, drones surveilling #Russia forces went dark, & long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets.

#power #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

As a result,…troops failed to surround a Russian position in the town of Beryslav, east of Kherson, the administrative center of the region of the same name. “The encirclement stalled entirely,” said the military official in an interview. “It failed.”

Ultimately, #Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeded in reclaiming Beryslav, the city of Kherson & some additional territory #Russia had occupied.

#power #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

But #Musk’s order, which hasn’t previously been reported, is the first known instance of the billionaire actively [& personally] shutting off #Starlink coverage over a battlefield during the conflict. The decision shocked some Starlink employees & effectively reshaped the front line of the fighting, enabling #Musk to take “the outcome of a war into his own hands,” another one of the three people said.

#power #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

…#Musk’s order was an early glimpse of the #power the magnate now wields in #geopolitics & #GlobalSecurity because of #Starlink, a fast-growing #satellite internet service that barely existed early this decade & now provides connectivity even in remote areas of the world. Even before his brief role as donor & advisor to #Trump, Starlink’s success–& the unrivaled connectivity it offers across the planet–had given Musk increasing #influence w/political leaders, governments & militaries worldwide.

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

#Musk’s sway in #military affairs in Washington & beyond–through #Starlink’s dominance in #satellite #communications & #SpaceX’s clout in #space launches–has reached a dimension previously limited to #sovereign #governments, alarming some regulators & lawmakers. “Elon Musk’s current global dominance exemplifies the dangers of concentrated #power in unregulated domains,” Martha Lane Fox, a member of Britain’s upper house of parliament, said during a debate earlier this year.

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

The parliamentarian is a businesswoman & fmr board member at #Twitter, the social media site that #Musk acquired in 2022 & rebranded as #X.

“Its control,” Lane Fox said of #Starlink, “rests solely with Musk, allowing his whims to dictate access to vital infrastructure.”

Musk’s political #influence, & his massive business with the #US federal govt, are now being put to the test. Since leaving his role advising #Trump, Musk has publicly feuded with the president….

#power #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

Whatever the reason for #Musk’s decision, the shutoff over Kherson & other regions surprised some involved w/the #Ukraine war–from troops on the ground to #US military & #ForeignPolicy ofcls, who after #Russia’s full-scale invasion that Feb had worked to secure #Starlink for Ukrainian forces. Panicked calls by Ukrainian ofcls during the outage to seek information from #Pentagon counterparts, 5 people familiar with the incident said, were met w/ few explanations for what could have caused it.

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

The #US Department of #Defense declined to comment. Reuters couldn’t determine whether #WhiteHouse or #Pentagon officials after the shutdown had any exchanges with #Musk over the outage.

The #Kherson episode is distinct from an earlier report of an incident that purportedly occurred that same September, involving #Crimea just to the south, & raised concerns about Musk’s ability to influence the conflict in #Ukraine.

#power #influence #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

In his 2023 biography of #Musk, author Walter Isaacson reported that the tycoon had ordered #Starlink to disable coverage in #Crimea, which #Russia had annexed from #Ukraine after a 2014 invasion that the international community condemned as #illegal. Musk, Isaacson wrote, believed a planned Ukrainian attack on Russian vessels in the Crimean port of Sevastopol could prompt #nuclear retaliation.

#power #influence #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

After the book was published, #Musk denied a shutdown, saying that there had never been coverage in #Crimea…. He said he had, rather, rejected a Ukrainian request to provide service ahead of Kyiv’s planned attack.Isaacson later conceded his account was flawed…
#SpaceX also said in 2023 that it had taken unspecified steps to prevent #Ukraine from using #Starlink for certain activities, including drone attacks. “Our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes,”Gwynne Shotwell…said.

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

“There are things that we can do, & have done” to prevent it, she added, without providing further detail.

Reuters couldn’t determine if the shutdown affecting Kherson was among the steps she was referring to…

Following the start of the Kherson shutdown, word of an outage emerged in some media reports. At the time, it wasn’t clear to those who lost connectivity whether a technical problem, sabotage or some other factor was responsible.

#Musk #Starlink #power #influence #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

Early in the war, #Russia orchestrated a large #cyberattack that disrupted service of another #satellite operator, Western ofcls said, …leaving a void quickly filled by #Starlink.…

As of April 2025, acc/to #Ukraine…, Kyiv has received >50k Starlink terminals. Easily transported & deployed, the pizza-box-sized devices communicate w/thousands of #SpaceX satellites now circling the globe. An initial batch of terminals was provided to Ukraine by SpaceX…. Further terminals have arrived from donors…

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

This account of the outage, & the growing #dependence on #Musk by governments & militaries worldwide, is based on interviews with >3 dozen people with knowledge of #SpaceX operations & the company’s #technology. These people included current & former employees, #US & #Europe military officials, & senior politicians & diplomats.

The reporting puts a spotlight on Musk’s #control of services now #critical to countries including the US, which has about $22B in contracts w/SpaceX.

#Starlink #power

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

Underscoring the point himself during his recent dispute with #Trump, #Musk threatened to decommission a #SpaceX spacecraft the US now relies upon to transport #astronauts & critical cargo.

His threat, later retracted, unnerved attorneys at #NASA, who felt forced to explore whether Musk’s warning could be considered a notice of #contract termination, according to two people familiar with the matter.

#Starlink #power #influence #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

“There needs to be some contractual assurances” that #Musk won’t cut off services to the #US govt, said Lori Garver, a fmr deputy administrator of #NASA. “We will need to consider how comfortable the US will be at putting #SpaceX in the critical path on #NationalSecurity.”

As countries increasingly rely on #tech companies for everything from #CyberDefense to #DataStorage, the question of #dependence on one or a few dominant service providers will apply to other nations, too.

#power #corruption

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

…#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 such satellites historically reside. The proximity of #satellites that now make up the company’s constellation allows #Starlink to offer space-based #wireless connectivity that is faster than any previously available.

#Musk #power #influence #corruption #oligarchy

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

#Starlink on Thurs suffered a rare #global #outage of several hours, the company said, because of an internal software problem. A #Ukraine military commander in a social media post said “Starlink is down across the entire front,” updating the post 2½ hours later to say connectivity had returned.

With >7,900 #satellites now in orbit, #SpaceX has become the world’s largest satellite operator. Its devices…account for about ⅔ of all active satellites in #space….

#Musk #power #influence #corruption

nanowiz Jul 25, 2025

#musk's catapulted #war #profiteering to a whole new space

Shdwdrgn Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Folks at Downdetector have reported outages of over 20 hours. Looks like even now they are still receiving reports of outages so I would say their claim of service returning was quite premature.

https://downdetector.com/status/starlink/

Starlink outage or service down? Current outages and problems

Current outages and problems for Starlink. Is your internet down? Here you see what is going on.

downdetector.com

Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex my first thought about that and related to that other Starlink Ukraine story today "were Ukraine making a headway against Russia again?"

Nicole Parsons Jul 25, 2025

Musk is begging governments to nationalize his companies.

Musk does not get to decide whether nations are permitted to defend themselves from a despot like Putin.

Remember, if they'll do it *with* you, they'll do it *to* you.
Musk is a national security risk to every democracy.

https://jacobin.com/2025/06/musk-trump-nationalize-spacex-starlink

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/steve-bannon-nationalize-spacex

We Should Immediately Nationalize SpaceX and Starlink

The slap fight between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has highlighted the absurdity of keeping so much of our space program and satellite internet infrastructure in the hands of a single oligarch.

Democracy Dies in Dumbass Jul 26, 2025

@Nonilex fuck that. We need to nationalize it and take ownership. Fuck musk and his monopoly.

GLC Jul 25, 2025

Flawed.

Oh, I see.

His account had a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Could happen to anyone ...

An elegant choice of words; I confess to a certain admiration.

TobiWanKenobi Jul 25, 2025

Since he had his biography already written, could someone please make it so that it remains up-to-date forever? Fckn #fascist billionaire

samiamsam Jul 26, 2025

probably not a great idea to let the whims of a drug addled psychopath control, well, anything

samiamsam Jul 25, 2025

elon should be in prison

Johvelsson Jul 26, 2025

@samiamsam @Nonilex

Elon shouldn't even exist.

Heliograph Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Incredible interference in the sovereignty of others

Faraiwe Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Naturally, this due to the #kremlin role in diverting funds to musk's businesses, via several nativist-inclined wealthy figures influencing US govt.

Without US govt hand outs, musk wouldn't exist. If you give me billions of dollars in "loans" I don't have to pay you back I, too, become a billionaire.

When the kremlin squealed for help, #musk responded.

Heed this lesson, very well. Relying on ANY corporate interests for critical infrastructure is suicide for National Security.

@ NovaNaturalist HAS ALSO MOVED Jul 25, 2025

At the time, the US was giving military equipment to aid the Ukrainians. It is hard not to conclude that Musk was giving aid and comfort to US enemies. Musk committed treason.

Toni Aittoniemi Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex I’ve suspected Elon Musk has a lot of personal contacts with Russian oligarchs. By extension this means Putin. Always.

Whether Putin ordered this or not may never be found, but I have grave suspicions that there was a call. From Russia. To Elon Musk.

fathermucker Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Trump could do the funniest thing ever by seizing Starlink.

Sassinake! ᑐ ∪ ∩ ⊂Jul 25, 2025

like Zeus, on mount Olympus, throwing lightning bolts as whomever displeases him, or just for shits and giggles.

Rich White Male gods.

Killertomato Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex I don't get how they are still relying on starlink in the first place. Musk has been shown to be in Russias pocket for years now. I would assume someone would have mentioned the operational risks of trusting starlink

🐜Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Was that why there was an outage yesterday in USA?

Nonilex Jul 25, 2025

It was global

CassandraVert Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex I remember seeing it reported that way originally--that Musk shut it down to disadvantage Ukraine.

LM Little Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex It is beyond sad that remote communities in northern #Canada are so tied to this disgusting enterprise. https://cabinradio.ca/250427/news/economy/infrastructure/telecoms/starlink-service-restored-after-hours-long-outage/

Starlink service restored after hours-long outage

Life's Better at the Cabin

Cabin Radio

Nicole Parsons Jul 25, 2025

Musk, the megalomaniac, now decides the fate of nations, but only in his own mind.

The people of Ukraine decide their fate, not a fossil fuel funded wingnut.

https://cepa.org/article/should-elon-musk-decide-who-wins-wars/

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/elon-musk-trumps-private-citizen

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/elon-musks-ai-fuelled-war-on-human-agency

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/21/musk-vows-to-fix-x-after-polls-show-high-support-for-ukraines-zelenskyy

https://www.newsweek.com/musk-doge-ukraine-children-2045330

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/elon-musks-shadow-rule

Should Elon Musk Decide Who Wins Wars?

Russian soldiers are reportedly using Starlink devices in Ukraine. US private companies should not be permitted to support our enemies.

CEPA

MicronH⚖️😷Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex
Deport Muck to Mars now

McWabbit 🇺🇦🍋🌻🍉Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Guess the SBU should have a visit...

Bernard Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex what happened to Eutelsat stopping in when #naziMusk shut down Starlink?

Brokar Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex That's why you shouldn't trust private companies with critical stuff.
They do not care about you, they only care about themselves, money and their shareholders and in the end only follow their own agenda.

Wulfy—Speaker to the machines Jul 25, 2025

I think that it is excellent that Felon Moscovite is demonstrating that use of #starlink for military purposes is a mistake.
The sooner Euros get their own constellation up the better.
#ukraine #nato

The Turtle Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex it was actually reported at the time. I remember hearing about this in near-real-time... i suspect they buried it soon after.

GeraintLlanfrancheta Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex #iris2

Darren du Nord Jul 25, 2025

@Nonilex Nationalize Starlink. And SpaceSex

KanaMauna Jul 26, 2025

People died by his actions. I’m pretty sure they have relatives. Bereaved relatives sometimes do things unpleasant. He can’t have his kid on his shoulders forever. Enough said.

Peter Brown Jul 27, 2025

@Nonilex starlink should be nationalised. If the USA will not do it then the United Nations should.