SpaceX refused govt request to activate Starlink to sink Russian fleet: Musk

Elon Musk. Photo: Reuters

San Francisco: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday revealed that he did not budge to an emergency request from the government authorities to switch on space internet service SpaceX up to Sevastopol in Crimea, which is a major port on the Black Sea, to target Russian ships.

“There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol,” said Musk, without mentioning the Ukrainian government.

“The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor. If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,” the X owner added.

“The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything,” Musk added. “Both sides should agree to a truce. Every day that passes, more Ukrainian and Russian youth die to gain and lose small pieces of land, with borders barely changing. This is not worth their lives,” the billionaire posted.

He also urged that Russia and Ukraine should agree to a truce as hundreds of youth continue to die at both sides.

“Both sides should agree to a truce. Every day that passes, more Ukrainian and Russian youth die to gain and lose small pieces of land, with borders barely changing. This is not worth their lives,” Musk emphasised.

Last year, Musk had said that his Starlink was the only internet service left in Ukraine, and Russia was actively trying to kill it too.

"Starlink is the only comms system still working at warfront -- others are all dead. Russia is actively trying to kill Starlink. To safeguard, SpaceX has diverted massive resources towards defence," he had tweeted.

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