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Elon Musk, Chief Govt Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and proprietor of Twitter, seems on as he attends the Viva Know-how convention devoted to innovation and startups on the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
Writer Walter Isaacson took to social media to attempt to “make clear” an excerpt from his upcoming guide, “Elon Musk.” The excerpt acquired swift backlash after it described how Musk thwarted a Ukrainian assault on Russian warships.
Isaacson’s guide claims that Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, ordered engineers to close off Starlink’s satellite tv for pc community over Crimea final 12 months in an effort to disrupt a Ukrainian navy initiative. Musk’s Starlink terminals arrived within the early days of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine as Western governments labored to produce Kyiv with artillery and air protection methods.
Musk ultimately soured on the association and stated “Starlink was not meant to be concerned in wars,” in line with the guide. The tech billionaire advised Isaacson he was nervous the Ukrainian assault on Russian vessels would provoke the Kremlin into launching a nuclear conflict.
However in a publish on X, previously often known as Twitter, late Friday, Isaacson shared new particulars.
“To make clear on the Starlink problem: the Ukrainians THOUGHT protection was enabled all the way in which to Crimea, however it was not,” Isaacson wrote. “They requested Musk to allow it for his or her drone sub assault on the Russian fleet. Musk didn’t allow it, as a result of he thought, most likely accurately, that may trigger a serious conflict.”
Crimea is a peninsula on the Black Sea that Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and it’s house to Russia’s Black Sea warships. Within the days following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Black Sea fleet fired missiles on once-industrious Ukrainian coastal cities whereas imposing a devastating naval blockade.
Isaacson went additional in a second publish on Saturday, saying that stated he “mistakenly” thought Musk made the choice to close off Starlink’s satellite tv for pc community on the evening of the assault.
“Based mostly on my conversations with Musk, I mistakenly thought the coverage to not permit Starlink for use for an assault on Crimea had been first selected the evening of the Ukrainian tried sneak assault that evening,” Isaacson stated. “He now says that the coverage had been carried out earlier, however the Ukrainians didn’t understand it, and that evening he merely reaffirmed the coverage.”
Isaacson’s X posts got here after a high aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lashed out at Musk over the excerpt.
“By not permitting Ukrainian drones to destroy a part of the Russian navy fleet through Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fireplace Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote Thursday on social media after CNN reported on a few of the particulars from Isaacson’s guide.
“In consequence, civilians, kids are being killed. That is the value of a cocktail of ignorance and massive ego,” he added.
Isaacson’s full guide is slated for launch on Tuesday.
Learn the complete excerpt about Starlink and Ukraine within the Washington Submit.
— CNBC’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
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