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.
Musk gave an order that led to a communications blackout, causing the attack to fail, as Ukrainian troops attempted to regain Kherson in September 2022, according to Reuters, who spoke with three people familiar with the command.
The order severely diminished Kyiv's trust in Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided early in the war to help Ukraine's military maintain connection in the battlefield.
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 offices of SpaceX, the Musk venture that controls Starlink, to cut coverage.
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.
