Musk had offered the SpaceX-owned service to Ukraine in February after the Russian invasion disrupted the country’s local internet services. SpaceX has since installed thousands of terminals to keep the Ukrainian military online.
On Oct. 3, however, Musk drew heavy criticism from Ukrainians for suggesting they should end the war by conceding Crimea to Russia, as well as doing a UN-supervised "redo" of elections that Russia staged to annex several regions of the country last month.
In response to the proposal, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany wrote on Twitter: "F—k off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk."
Early Friday, Musk replied that he is now "just following his recommendation" in a Twitter thread about the Starlink shutdown.
| Mercutio gives us a slightly more pungent take in the story: |
[OTP] Elon Musk apparently has run out of patience with Ukraine. His SpaceX firm announced it no longer can afford to donate satellite internet service to Ukraine.
Musk said he was spending about $20 million monthly to help Ukraine, and noted that competitors such as Lockheed and Boeing are the beneficiaries of tens of billions of dollars from the Pentagon.
Musk’s decision doesn’t appear to be solely about money. Musk recently suggested a peace plan, which was harshly criticized by Ukraine President Zelensky and others.
Most memorably, Andrij Melnyk, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, replied to Musk: "F*ck off is my very diplomatic reply to you. The only outcome is that now no Ukrainian will EVER buy your f*cking Tesla crap. So good luck to you."
Ukes were the beneficiaries of good communications via Starlink, which Musk donated. Do Svdanya.