Starlink services for Ukraine: Last week, one of the richest men in the world, Elon Musk suggested UN-supervised elections in four occupied regions that Moscow occupied recently followed by referendums. The governments of Kyiv and the West accused Russia of forcing the referendums and criticised it as illegal.
According to Musk’s tweets, Russia is currently just partially mobilised. If Crimea is in danger, Moscow will prepare for full-scale war, which will result in terrible casualties on both sides. He emphasised that a complete military victory for Ukraine is unlikely given the size and firepower of the red army. The wisest course of action for Ukraine and its citizens is peace.
Ukraine ridicules Musk
According to Ukrainians, Musk crossed a line by suggesting a peace plan. With the tweets, Musk added a few polls seeking if the peace proposal is good enough. As one might expect, the poll did not go in Musk’s favour. More than 2.4 million Twitter accounts participated in the poll, and more than 60% of those accounts voted “no” to the “peace proposal.”
Let’s try this then: the will of the people who live in the Donbas & Crimea should decide whether they’re part of Russia or Ukraine
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2022
He concurred with a Twitter user’s assertion that poll results were being rigged against Musk. “Indeed. Biggest bot attack I’ve ever seen,” Musk replied.
Indeed. Biggest bot attack I’ve ever seen.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2022
Ukraine has invented the first social media information warfare and how has used it to gain an advantage. According to a study by the University of Adelaide in Australia, between 60 and 80 per cent of Twitter handles posting or tweeting about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are bot accounts. Additionally, the researchers discovered more accounts that were “pro-Ukraine” than “pro-Russia.”
The study titled, “#IStandWithPutin vs #IStandWithUkraine: The interplay of bots and people in the debate of the Russia/Ukraine war” was published on August 20. Only 6.80 per cent of the accounts tweeting about the Russia-Ukraine war were “for Russia,” according to the researchers, while 90.16 per cent were “pro-Ukraine.”
Every 9 in 10 accounts posting pro-Ukraine tweets are bots. So, given the poll results on Musk’s tweet must not be surprising.
His most recent remarks were not well received by Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy replied with sarcasm and created his own Twitter poll, asking, “Which Elon Musk do you like more?” “One who supports Russia,” or “One who supports Ukraine.”
Andrij Melnyk, the ambassador of Ukraine to Germany, responded to Musk’s post on Twitter by writing, “F— off is my very diplomatic reply to you.”
Also Read: Why is it almost impossible to defeat Ukraine on social media?
Elon Musk halts Starlink?
Just a couple of days after Musk suggested the peace plan, Ukrainian troops have reported Starlink communication equipment failures on the frontlines, impeding attempts to retake the area from Russian forces.
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has transported internet infrastructure of Starlink to Ukraine. Mykhailo Fedorov, the digital minister for Ukraine, urged Musk to give Ukraine Starlink equipment in the early stages of the conflict. In a matter of hours, the millionaire responded quickly, stating that the systems were up and running and those additional terminals were on their way.
As a result of the invasion, 15,000 Starlink kits have been shipped by SpaceX to Ukraine, according to the PowerPoint from SpaceX’s June all-hands meeting. According to The Washington Post, the US Agency for International Development paid SpaceX around $2 million for just 1,333 terminals to be deployed to Ukraine.
In locations without alternative secure networks, the Starlink devices enable forces of Ukraine to control drones, receive crucial information updates, and communicate with one another.
One senior Ukrainian government official with direct knowledge of the problem claimed that some of the failures resulted in a “catastrophic” loss of communication in recent weeks. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that many were reported when soldiers crossed the lines into Russian-controlled areas and some during intense combat.
Another official from Kyiv claimed that the connectivity issues were widespread and that troops called helplines in a panic.
Clearly, Elon Musk didn’t like how he was rebuked on Social media by the Ukrainian President and people despite the Starlink systems he has provided. The outages highlight the enormous significance Musk’s communications systems have on the battlefield.
Further, Musk has also claimed, “This operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year.” He also said that he has not been paid for the Starlink systems he has provided.
Understandably, as Musk was ridiculed, Starlink systems are now facing issues.
