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Starlink in Ukraine: Why the Story Is Not So Simple (simplecast.com)
3 points by dilyevsky on Sept 22, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 3 comments



Not gonna listen to the podcast but for anyone who wants the bullet points to date:

>musk offers starlink for humanitarian support at no cost shortly after war starts

>ukraine begins using it for military efforts

>coverage was never offered over crimea (per US sanctions)

>ukrainian government acts exceedingly ungrateful for starlink

>musk wonders why he's paying out of pocket for this, says spacex wont eat the cost anymore

>US gov offers contract to continue funding starlink support

>someone in US admin leaks the story making musk look bad

>musk gets guilt tripped into continuing to pay for it

>shotwell asks musk why the hell he's not taking the governments money

>ukranians strap a bomb to an amphib drone planning to blow up ships in crimea

>drones lose signal

>ukranians call musk asking him to "turn starlink back on"

>he tells them he never turned it off, it was always off over crimea

>musk then says on principle he wont turn it on unless the president asks because he doesnt want to support an escalation of the war

>biden never asks

Musk should have never offered up Starlink to be honest, and I think the ukranians are starting to wear out the good will of the west. We don't have anymore money to send them and zelensky's threat of ukranian diaspora aggression in the west was pretty sinister.


There's a Russian angle regardless..with MC and DS as instigators and phone calls with Russian Government representatives


39 minute podcast, no article.




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