Elon Musk purposefully hobbled a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, according to a new biography of the Tesla CEO.
In the wake of the release of the new book, entitled Elon Musk, by Steve Jobs author Walter Isaacson, the deputy chair of the Russian security council, Dmitry Medvedev, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday to praise Musk.
“Walter Isaacson, an author and journalist, in his biography of @elonmusk writes that last year the businessman shut down Starlink to prevent Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Navy stationed in Crimea,” Medvedev wrote. “He was concerned about a retaliatory nuclear strike. If what Isaacson has written in his book is true, then it looks like Musk is the last adequate mind in North America. Or, at the very least, in gender-neutral America, he is the one with the balls.”
Walter Isaacson, an author and journalist, in his biography of @elonmusk writes that last year the businessman shut down Starlink to prevent Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Navy stationed in Crimea. He was concerned about a retaliatory nuclear strike.If what Isaacson has written…
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) September 7, 2023
CNN reported on Thursday that the book claims that Musk’s company, SpaceX, the company that operates the satellite internet service, purposefully disrupted a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Musk allegedly crippled a Ukrainian attack on Russia
Reportedly, Musk had discreetly ordered the service to be cut from the Crimean coast in 2022 specifically to disable Ukrainian submarine drones armed with explosive devices as they closed in on the Russian fleet.
As a result of the move, the book notes, the drones “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly.”
In February of this year, the Post reported that Musk had confirmed that he would restrict Ukraine's military access to his Starlink satellites.
At the time, in response to an X post from former US Navy Captain and NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly asking Musk to resume the full functionality of Starlink satellites to Ukraine, Musk wrote on the social media platform that he would not enable the conflict to escalate such that it could cause a third world war.
.@elonmusk Ukraine desperately needs your continued support. Please restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites. Defense from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. It’s survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help. Thank you.
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) February 11, 2023
“You’re smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs,” Musk wrote. “Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.”