| The uproar began when the Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a threat from a Russian official After he supplied equipment to Ukraine. The official vowed to make Musk pay:
“From the testimony of the captured commander of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Dmitry Kormyankov, it turns out that the internet terminals of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite company were delivered to the militants of the Nazi Azov Battalion and the Ukrainian Marines in Mariupol by military helicopters,” states the translated message, which Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency, sent to Russian media. “According to our information, the delivery of the Starlink equipment was carried out by the Pentagon.
“Elon Musk, thus, is involved in supplying the fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment,” the message continues. “And for this, Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult – no matter how much you’ll play the fool.”
The word “Nazi” doesn’t mean what he seems to think it does pic.twitter.com/pk9SQhBOsG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2022
“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” Musk wrote shortly after.
Musk’s response set Twitter on fire but none more so than his own mother who tweeted back to him “That’s not funny”. He tried to reassure his mother but let’s face it—Russian state TV threatened to retaliate against Musk. That’s a mother’s worse nightmare:
Sorry! I will do my best to stay alive.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2022
SpaceX has been delivering the internet to Ukraine through over 10,000 Starlink dishes, which can receive the broadband from satellites orbiting the planet. The Ukrainian government says it’s been deploying the dishes in areas hit hardest by Russia’s invasion, including at hospitals and for military operations.
Ukrainian soldiers have also praised SpaceX’s Starlink system. “I want to say one thing: Elon Musk’s Starlink is what changed the war in Ukraine’s favor,” one solider recently told journalist David Patrikarakos. “Russia went out of its way to blow up all our comms. Now they can’t. Starlink works under Katyusha (rocket) fire, under artillery fire. It even works in Mariupol.”
