Public sentiment regarding Elon Musk's involvement in the Ukraine conflict through Starlink is largely negative, with criticism directed at both Musk's motivations and the implications of private technology in warfare. Many commenters express cynicism about Ukraine's dependency on Starlink and concern over Musk's significant influence on military communications, often highlighting feelings of frustration and disappointment. There is a prevalent belief that these dynamics may exacerbate issues of governance and ethical responsibility in times of conflict.

Elon Musk

Ukrainian Government

Russian Government

Everyone assumed it at the time. But no hard evidence was found at the time.  
Good to have that now.

Aethernath

Sometimes I wonder how long ago this war would be ended if the USA wouldn't sabotage us in their idiotic attempt to befriend russians. Or maybe it wouldn't even have started in the first place

inokentii

And then Musk went to work for the king of a pedophile ring involving Epstein and Maxwell. Knowingly.

Anxiety_Fit

Starlinks involvement in this war is nothing new. When musk realized back in 2022 that he could mess with the outcome of what would happen, he took that chance. He shut down drone repeaters that were using starlink. musk masked his shutting down Ukrainian drones as not willing to be responsible for the deaths of anyone with starlink, but the russians continue to use it, supposedly gotten from the black market, yeah right. musk is a russian puppet.

One-Fan-7296

KlausBertKlausewitz

The fact that Musk has now had a falling out with Trump, does not make him any less a traitor to US interests.

19CCCG57

This eugenecist rat keeps lying that he has never hurt anyone.


It has Ukranian blood on its hands

Kitchen_Victory_6088

Holy fuck Musk is an absolute scumbag.

If I was a Tesla owner I would not be worried about someone torching my car – I would do that myself.

apkatt

American-Patriot99

Musk is responsible for the death of some many good people. This is criminal.

not_just_putin

Musk says he was afraid Putin would nuke Ukraine. 

"Musk was **concerned about Russia responding to the naval attack with a nuclear weapon,** Isaacson wrote in the book, according to CNN. Ukrainian officials begged him to turn the service back on, but he declined to do it for the Crimea incident." (emphasis mine)

[https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4193788-musk-acknowledges-he-turned-off-starlink-internet-access-last-year-during-ukraine-attack-on-russia-military/](https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4193788-musk-acknowledges-he-turned-off-starlink-internet-access-last-year-during-ukraine-attack-on-russia-military/)

IMO, a Russia rabid enough to use nukes in an aggressive war of imperialist expansion will eventually have to be put down. Sooner is always better. Pacifism is just pro-Fascist nonsense.

DyadVe

Inside_Ad_7162

Firefly_1989

atxJohnR

Hunter-q

And he wonders why no-one wants to buy his cars.

paulywauly99

b__lumenkraft

It was that or be crushed by ITAR / EAR.

elatllat

A true bond villain... too bad we don't have a RL Bond to take him on.

Hendrik_the_Third

North_Church

He is *the* highest profile person on his Twitter-thing. Everybody can see which accounts he follows and what he reads. Every account provides as list of who he trusts. This is super dangerous and people still keep doing it.

The russians probably have a 100 strong team crafting deinformation spefically aimed at him. They are very good at that.

Speak_Plainly

Willguill19

Awkward_Forever9752

thebwt

Voyager_AU

He was always a piece of shit. I hope he and the orange pedo baboon tear each other apart.

diseasefaktory

I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the news that came out in the spring from the former FBI agent who said Musk had gotten caught up with a Russian spy. I'm sure it also had nothing to do with Musk claiming then denying that he had regular talks with Putin personally.

Sweaty-Feedback-1482

AltDaddy

Of course he did, he’s a Russian asset. He has a direct line to Putin. He is no one’s friend except himself, and strong men represent the best opportunity for gain to people like him.

fellindeep23

Elon really likes to demonstrate why certain accents should be publicly funded.

TheHippieJedi

eiseleyfan

So he should be considered an enemy combatant and treated accordingly, correct...?

DummyDumDragon

So musk directly involved himself in a foreign war, costing lives and money for a service that’s paid for? 

Ukraine should request extradition for musk, let him sit in a gulag for assisting the Russian military in an attack against Ukraines sovereignty.

New_Teacher_4408


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AutoModerator

He didn't hide it he promoted it and claimed it was because he was some benevolent person.

TrueTorontoFan

ands681

Scifidelis

DryToe1269

paulrich_nb

This guy is the world’s biggest piece of shit.

ProdigalSheep

Strontiumdogs1

justamiqote

Rainsmakker

This feels like the answer to the question: 

What would a nazi do?

awwaygirl

This is revisionism and spin. Starlink terminals worked in unoccupied Ukrainian territories. They did not work in places where Russians had a foothold. So, if you crossed into those places your telecommunications would go out.

The reason why they didn't work in places where Russians had a foothold was so Russians couldn't communicate, it wasn't so Ukrainians couldn't communicate. This was a hole in oversight by leadership of the advancing guard. But this news story keeps getting spun because people don't want to take the blame. And they shouldn't really be blamed because this was something people WOULD forget. Sometimes battle experience is learned the hard way. 

SpaceX had sent 22,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine. The Russians took out the internet when they first attacked, which also screwed themselves. There would be little communications in Ukraine if it wasn't for Starlink. The lesson learned here is to have a backup for your backup. Daisy chained wifi or something.

FDUpThrowAway2020

No-Fail7484

JuiceManOJ

I don't know how many times this has to get posted for people to understand that Starlink is export controlled. This event was in 2022.. The US DoD and Starlink didn't sign a deal to allow the geofenced regions to be moved around until almost a year later in 2023.

That means It is illegal, without US government permission, to operate in "enemy occupied territories". 

Calling up a company without a contract with the government and saying "hey please break the law and turn on access within this area marked as occupied because we pushed past the point" is not how it works.

Now the UA MoD and US DoD can just talk directly to move the geofenced zones and Starlink isn't liable for breaking super strict big boy US laws.

3-----------------D

From our dear friend Chat GPT:

TLDR:

Ordering a shutdown of Starlink service during a critical military operation in Ukraine would very likely cross legal lines under U.S. law, particularly if conducted unilaterally by a U.S. citizen or private company with ties to U.S. national security support.

Reply:
Reliable reports now indicate that Elon Musk ordered a shutdown of Starlink satellite service during Ukraine’s September 2022 counteroffensive in the Kherson region. According to Reuters, that decision deactivated over 100 Starlink terminals, causing a communications blackout that disrupted drone surveillance, artillery targeting, and stalled an important encirclement maneuver near Beryslav  .


---

⚖️ Could such an act be a crime under U.S. law?

1. If committed today by an individual like Musk, from U.S. soil or as a U.S. person:

Shutting down critical communication infrastructure abroad could violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA, 18 U.S.C. § 1030)—which covers unauthorized interference with computer systems, even when targeted overseas.

It might also be interpreted as sabotage, especially if the act materially harms U.S. national security or undermines a U.S. ally in a time of war.

If the shutdown benefitted a foreign adversary, it could raise legal concerns under statutes prohibiting material support to hostile states.


2. If done by a private company operator like SpaceX:

Executing such an order—without government authorization—could expose executives to liability for breaching statutory and regulatory obligations in areas of national security and export controls (e.g. ITAR).

Because Starlink service in Ukraine was resourced partly through U.S. Department of Defense or government funding, disrupting it unilaterally would raise serious questions about contractual or fiduciary misconduct.


3. National security and geopolitical implications:

U.S. lawmakers and national security officials have expressed alarm over one private individual wielding this level of control during an allied conflict. The Senate Armed Services Committee launched an investigation, emphasizing that critical infrastructure should not hinge on a single, unelected figure  .

For U.S. departments and policy-makers, the incident highlighted the urgency of legal frameworks to limit private actors’ unilateral ability to influence allied military operations.



---

📌 Key Points Recap

In September 2022, during Ukraine’s push to liberate Kherson, Musk allegedly ordered a Starlink blackout in Ukrainian-controlled areas to prevent escalation, which disrupted military coordination and was later reported by Reuters  .

U.S. law criminalizes intentional disruption of digital infrastructure, especially if it harms allied efforts or national interests.

This incident prompted scrutiny over unregulated private power and led to government efforts to secure legal safeguards around private entities providing military-grade services.



---

✅ Bottom Line

Yes, ordering a shutdown of Starlink service during a critical military operation in Ukraine would very likely cross legal lines under U.S. law, particularly if conducted unilaterally by a U.S. citizen or private company with ties to U.S. national security support.

Cool_Being_7590

Hertje73

Just throwing the idea out there as an exercise in thought…would that justify considering him a war criminal from Ukraine’s point of view? Which may in turn justify a hit being put out on him?

distelfink33

This was also known back in 2022 almost as soon as he did it.

hamsterfolly

PersonalAge142

Yes we know this, plus Musk also had StarLink shut down when he found out about the Ukrainian sea drone attack on the Black Sea fleet when it was actually at Svestapol.

Common-Ad6470

Everyone knew it already. Why is this news now?

West_Doughnut_901

Reuters is lying as usual. Even their own details don’t match up.

tech01x

He DID say that if Kamala won, he'd likely go to prison...I wonder why...

AlwaysAbandonded

I think it's how we know , [one dude shouldn't have this sort of power](https://www.reuters.com/investigations/musk-ordered-shutdown-starlink-satellite-service-ukraine-retook-territory-russia-2025-07-25/#:~:text=Starlink%20on%20Thursday%20suffered%20a,to%20say%20connectivity%20had%20returned.), but the perversity of why corporations exist has changed - now they exist at the sponsorship and act to the whims of dictators and autocrats, and everything we can do as consumers and citizens to break up his monopoly on global communications for underserved nations is a good thing.

markth_wi

![gif](giphy|S7GOAoCrDuieivXDbZ|downsized)

skippermonkey

Power corrupts…absolute power corrupts absolutely. He is a despicable human being. Hope all his ventures go bust. He does not deserve any kindness

Civil_Pain_453

towerfella

Wasn’t this public knowledge at the time? Like he said he was going to do it, and then the Ukrainians said he did it.

badger035

So this one isn't treason either. We aren't at war with Russia. But a good enough lawyer may be able to win this case.

Baconpwn2

I think they experienced an outage recently as well.

PurplePopcornBalls

We knew already. So did Trump with his bullshit

PolishPotatoACC

It was the single shittiest thing he has ever done in his whole shitty life. Imagine helping Hitler invade Russia by cutting off a critical supply line.

cptbil

Why cannot Ukraine develop their own internet instead of always leeching off someone's?

MuskyRusky

Smart_Spinach_1538

It’s the fact that this is even possible why I don’t understand why anyone, anywhere, for any reason, would touch any piece of tech associated with Musk.

Musk is a single person, with horrible views, is petty, and a textbook narcissist. Why would you put any trust, or god forbid, *lives* into the hands of someone like that who can unilaterally decide to fuck you over?

This is also a great example of why billionaires shouldn’t exist, and the obvious issues and harm that inevitably stems from single individuals amassing these levels of wealth and power. Too much control, too much corruption, too much risk of mistakes and/or malevolent intent.

Xander707

If course Elmo wants the fascist dictator to win.

Worldly_Scarcity2179

Helping Putin is the least surprising thing I've heard about Elon.

Nano_Burger

My question is how did he how did he know they were retaking territory? Sounds to me like he got a call from the Kremlin and they asked him to shut it down.

FlexFanatic

So to help Russia, just like everyone else knew.

LightMission4937

Dear-Pangolin1391

So he’s directly sabotaging customers worldwide - who depend on starlink for internet for remote jobs etc - so he can manipulate a war? 

Not exactly an advertisement for me to go with starlink. That satellite internet competition cannot be available fast enough.

Dr-Alec-Holland

So aiding and abetting a country who has declared America an enemy? I think there is a word for that…starts with a T

Double-Thought-9940

People were telling it back than, and all were like “this is just a speculations, he could not do that”

Ventriloquist_Voice

Whelp, another huge reason to hate Mr. tentyfingers.

Miserable-Ship-9972

mt8675309

ViolettaQueso

Elon begging to get nationalized when this MAGA fever breaks.

upvotechemistry

Uncivil_Bar_9778

No unelected person should have this sole power. It needs to be nationalized.

BallsOfStonk

Musk SUPPORTERS are Traitors (and yes, if you buy the Stock, that makes you a Supporter).

birdbonefpv

brainrotbro

This article is about 2022, not the recent outage. 

JohnHazardWandering

Gunldesnapper

Musk is a civilian.
He is playing with a military endangering their civilians.

loneImpulseofdelight

Musk has become the bad guy after breaking ties with the orange clown and pushing for the release of the Epstein files.

Wuaner

Goddamn he is a fucking traitorous bastard.

TheLooza

Well, "questionable sources," what I've seen so far ... but if this is even remotely true, he's truly a shitty individual.

russellvt

Talking no use. Action is what it matters. As long Tesla stock is going up he can do what the fk he wants with all the money.

Desperate-Hearing-55

Not sure if it true, but you muppet know starlink is a private company losing millions helping Ukraine. Tell the government to step the fuck up and compensate or stfu.

Status_Newspaper5645

Alarming_Detective92

transsolar

Jezus this recycled BS yet again. The man had a moral crisis at an inopportune time, this is well documented.

Longjumping-Panic401

In 2022.  

These headlines always seem to be written to be intentionally misleading by leaving out a crucial detail.  This is **unrelated** to the widespread Starlink outage yesterday.

X-T3PO

The article of the post is about an investigation about an incident in 2022.  
  
By coincidence, yesterday, heise.de, biggest IT magazine of Germany:  
  
"Starlink down worldwide, but working again after two and a half hours  
Updated July 24, 2025, 10:51 PM
Internet access via Starlink was temporarily unavailable.  
The outage was apparently global.  
Starlink blames a software problem. ..."  
https://www.heise.de/news/Starlink-weltweit-ausgefallen-10499135.html  
or google translate:  
https://www-heise-de.translate.goog/news/Starlink-weltweit-ausgefallen-10499135.html?_x_tr_sl=de&amp;_x_tr_tl=en&amp;_x_tr_hl=en&amp;_x_tr_pto=wapp  
  
One reader's comment mentions that the Starlink (terminal) has to be rebooted,  
but I can't verify.

Listelmacher

&gt;Reuters couldn’t ascertain the full geographic extent of the outage, but the three people familiar with the stoppage said that it covered regions that had recently been taken by Russia.

Look, click-bait titles are a thing. You cant read only the the title, especially in long-form journalism - it's long-form for a reason.

Wise-Jury-4037

pes0001

Elon Musk's Starlink service played a crucial role in Ukraine military communications, raising concerns about private tech influence in geopolitical conflicts.

Elon Musk and Starlink's Role in the Ukraine Conflict

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

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