Earlier in the week, a Spanish newspaper reported that although Kiev already had found alternatives to the internet provided by Starlink satellites, it could not break up with Musk's company as it would result in the Ukrainian defense's crumbling.
In early September, US media reported, citing Musk's biography by Walter Isaacson, that the US billionaire had ordered his engineers to deactivate Starlink coverage over Crimea, which ended up impairing Kiev's attack on the Russian fleet on Sevastopol last year. Musk denied this, saying that Starlink coverage over Crimea was never activated in the first place, despite Kiev requesting it. The tycoon said he never intended Starlink satellites to be used toward escalating the conflict which could lead to a third world war.
"It is true that he did turn off his products and services over Crimea before. But there's another side to that truth. Everybody's been aware of that ... This specific case everybody's referring to, there was a shutdown of the coverage over Crimea, but it wasn't at that specific moment. That shutdown was for a month," Budanov told an American military magazine, adding that "throughout the whole first period" of the conflict there was no satellite coverage at all.
He also said that Kiev uses Musk's products and services "very widely" and powering them down would lead to "a catastrophe."
In April, the Pentagon said it was in talks with Starlink regarding the satellite communication services that are being provided to Ukraine after Musk said that he was considering ending the supply because it was too difficult to maintain without funding from the government. Later, Musk made a u-turn and announced his company would continue providing services to Ukraine.
Starlink is a next generation satellite network launched by SpaceX in February 2018 and designed to provide broadband internet access across the world. After the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Starlink stations have been providing Ukrainian forces with access to satellite internet. However, in March, SpaceX chief Gwynne Shotwell said the company has taken measures to limit the use of its Starlink satellites by Ukraine for military purposes, including controlling drones.