Elon Musk ordered a blackout of Starlink coverage during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Kherson in Sept. 2022.
SpaceX engineer Michael Nicolls: We have to do this. 100+ terminals went dark.
Drones died. Comms failed. Ukraine failed to encircle Russians at Beryslav, Reuters.
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The blackout hit Kherson and parts of Donetsk around September 30, 2022.
Ukrainian troops lost contact, lost drone feeds, and failed to encircle Russians at Beryslav.
A frontline officer: The encirclement stalled entirely. It failed.
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Ukrainian troops lost contact, lost drone feeds, and failed to encircle Russians at Beryslav.
A frontline officer: The encirclement stalled entirely. It failed.
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Musk acted days after Putin threatened nuclear retaliation in September 21. He feared Ukrainian gains would trigger escalation.
He spoke with U.S. officials. Then gave the order.
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He spoke with U.S. officials. Then gave the order.
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In 2023, Gwynne Shotwell [SpaceX president] said they blocked Ukraine from using Starlink for drone strikes: There are things we can do, and have done.
She gave no details.
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She gave no details.
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Musk posted: My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.
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Ukraine runs on Starlink. By April 2025, it used over 50,000 terminals. Poland bought 25,000 of them.
Kyiv used Starlink for drones, encrypted comms, and state cloud access.
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Kyiv used Starlink for drones, encrypted comms, and state cloud access.
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Three people with direct knowledge confirmed Musk’s role.
One said: He took the outcome of a war into his own hands.
This marked the first battlefield shutdown Musk ordered.
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One said: He took the outcome of a war into his own hands.
This marked the first battlefield shutdown Musk ordered.
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Musk denied everything: We would never do such a thing. SpaceX called Reuters’ reporting inaccurate, gave no corrections, refused all questions.
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SpaceX now operates 7,900 satellites—66% of everything in orbit.
Starlink brings in $9.8 billion a year. That’s 60% of SpaceX’s revenue.
9X
Starlink brings in $9.8 billion a year. That’s 60% of SpaceX’s revenue.
9X
Source: reuters.com/investigations…
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