Musk: Starlink shutdown over Crimea is related to anti-Russian sanctions

The Starlink satellite communication service was disabled in Crimea due to US sanctions against Russia. This was stated by SpaceX founder Elon Musk during an online speech at the All-In Summit technology conference, organized by the hosts of The All-In Podcast. Broadcast was walking on the project’s YouTube channel.

“It was turned off because the United States imposed sanctions on Russia,” Musk said.

According to him, Starlink was not operating in the Crimea region at the time the request was received from the Ukrainian authorities. Musk recalled that the peninsula is subject to US sanctions, which is why SpaceX needs “approval from the US government” to turn on Starlink, which the company did not have.

He noted that SpaceX received an “emergency call” from Ukraine “literally in the middle of the night.” According to Musk, Kyiv actually asked the company to “take part in a major military action.” The businessman clarified that he would have turned on Starlink in Crimea if he had received such a directive from US President Joe Biden.

September 7 CNN citing an excerpt from the biography of the billionaire authored by Walter Isaacson reportedthat Musk ordered access to Starlink off Crimea to disrupt an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian warships. As stated, upon approaching the Russian ships, the Ukrainian underwater drones “lost contact and were thrown ashore without causing harm.”

Politico claimedthat Musk cut off access to satellites allegedly after a conversation with the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, who warned of a “nuclear response” in the event of an attack on Crimea.

Later Musk denied information about the refusal to enable Starlink, explaining that the service was not activated in the region initially. The businessman confirmed that he received a request from Kyiv to activate Starlink “all the way to Sevastopol.” He added that agreeing to do so would mean being involved in a “major act of war and an escalation of the conflict.”