Ukrainian official Mykhailo Podolyak criticized Elon Musk for his role in deactivating the Starlink satellite network near Crimea, saying it contributed to civilian casualties. Podolyak accused Musk of "committing evil" by allowing Ukraine's drones not to target Russian warships. He said that Musk’s actions allowed the Russian fleet to launch missiles at Ukrainian cities and were responsible for civilian deaths.

Musk defended his decision, saying concerns that his SpaceX company should not be directly implicated in escalating a major conflict factored into it. He cited fears that Vladimir Putin might respond with nuclear weapons if Ukraine attacked Russian-occupied Crimea.

These claims are borne out of an upcoming biography on Mr. Musc by Walter Isaacson, which shows how Starlink engineers were instructed to disable the service during a drone attack near Crimea. At first, Mr. Musk had agreed to supply Starlink hardware to Ukraine to restore communication disrupted after Russia invaded it. But he changed tack as Ukraine successfully repelled the initial Russian assault and began counterattacking.

The incident comes after previous tensions between Musk and Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, over Musk’s proposals to ease Russia’s invasion. He had suggested peace deals involving UN-supervised annexation referendums and recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, something Ukraine dismissed.

The European Union also accused Musk’s platform, X, of allowing the spread of Russian propaganda about Ukraine. Twitter’s decision to drop safety standards was recently cited in a study by the EU that found Kremlin-backed accounts’ reach and influence significantly increased in the first half of 2023. Musk contested those findings, saying there is no pro-Russian propaganda on his platform.