Tech billionaire Elon Musk has called for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to “go,” amid fears his crucial Starlink communications technology is being partially withdrawn from Ukraine's military. The intervention follows US President Donald Trump's call for Zelensky to step down, just as Ukraine was turning the war in its favour.
Musk said: “And so the slaughter continues. Time for Zelensky to go,” in a shift of blame for the war away from Russian leader Vladimir Putin and towards the Ukrainian leader. Musk has denied slowing down Starlink internet access and said the US government is in charge, but the remarks come amid claims the US government is removing intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
Satellite power and democracy
Musk's interference pulls into sharp focus how the combination of satellite technology ownership, social media control and wealth can scupper democracy. Press barons have huge influence on politics but imagine if, as well as the ability to pump out biased messaging, they could also switch off military communications.
Musk's interference is difficult to understand – it could be simple malevolence in support of Trump but possibly he is thrilled by the power-play, with no interest in the consequences.
Trump's demands and motivations
Trump demands Zelensky stops deep-strikes against Russia's energy industry, missions which have steadily turned the war in Ukraine's favour. This is for a number of reasons. He wants to shift blame and focus from his Iran disaster, because he is a fanboy of Putin who he sees as a strongman and because the Russian leader has something on him.
He hates Zelensky for standing up to him repeatedly and not bending to his will. As part of his political campaigning Trump's allies stoked claims his political adversary Joe Biden lobbied Ukraine to dismiss its top prosecutor to stymie an investigation into energy firm Burisma, of which his son, Hunter, was a board member. This was fabricated. Then in 2019 Trump unsuccessfully demanded Zelensky investigate the allegations and this was the basis for Trump's first impeachment.
Cost of undermining Ukraine
As the stakes soar Zelensky has refused to cower, vowing to continue the strike missions. Trump is so craven and lacking in moral decency in the run-up to the mid-term elections that like all bullies he is turning on what he perceives as the weakest. He wants us to believe the current energy crisis is not because of his dumb war on Iran but because Ukraine is hitting Russia's oil economy.
Kyiv is attacking Russia's oil industry to try and whittle away at Putin's warchest, to remove his ability to murder Ukrainian civilians men, women and children. Russia's ballistic missile onslaught on cities such as Kyiv is leaving civilians as sitting ducks as intelligence-sharing removal takes away any early warning system to tell civilians to shelter.
Trump knows his value to Putin is diminished if his presidency is weakened by the forthcoming elections. His ratings have plummeted through the floor and Musk's malevolent intervention may be too little too late. But undermining Ukraine's leadership will cost lives, whether it is by removing intelligence sharing or driving a rift between NATO partners.
Zelensky and his inner-circle have repeatedly proved that they can adapt brilliantly to take on the Russian military. But he is facing increasing hostility from the US and he is having to walk a difficult tightrope between upsetting the US President and defending his country.
