'Be Quiet, Small Man': Musk Clashes With Polish Foreign Minister Over Role Of Starlink In Ukraine

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink is playing an important role in Ukraine as it continues the war with Russia. He said that Ukraine would collapse if he shuts off the terminals.

Without Starlink, requesting evacuation or pinpointing target locations would be more complex.

Source : X

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with Poland's foreign minister over the use of the Starlink satellite internet system in Ukraine. This began after Musk took to X and said that Ukraine’s entire front line “would collapse” if he just turned off the internet system.

“I literally challenged Putin to one-on-one physical combat over Ukraine, and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off,” Musk had said in a tweet to a user who accused him of solely criticising Ukraine while failing to acknowledge Russia as the aggressor.

To this, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski responded that his country paid its use in Ukraine and threatening to shut it down would prompt a search for a different network. "Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year," Sikorski wrote. "The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers."

Rubio dismissed these claims and instead told him to be grateful. “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio said. “And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”

Musk also added a tweet in which he called Sikorski a “small man”. Musk wrote, “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”

Role Of Starlink in Ukraine-Russia war

Starlink is one of the most reliable communication systems for Ukrainian troops. It plays a crucial role in operating reconnaissance drones, which provide real-time battlefield data, enabling swift responses to attacks.

This technology helps offset Ukraine's manpower disadvantages by reducing the need for large troop deployments along the entire defensive line. Additionally, drone footage assists in directing artillery fire and identifying targets for kamikaze drone strikes.

Without Starlink, requesting evacuation or pinpointing target locations would be significantly slower and more complex, as traditional radio communications may be out of range, jammed, or compromised.

PM Tusk joins the X feud

This exchange caused Prime Minister Donald Tusk to call his country's allies to show respect for their weaker partners rather than arrogance. Tusk, without specifying who or what he was referring to, wrote on X: "True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones. Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it."

Starlink terminals have been crucial to Ukraine's military operations since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Thousands of terminals are in use across the country, including up to 500 purchased by the US Department of Defence in June 2023.

However, later, Musk clarified in a post that he wasn’t going to shut off terminals, he was trying to explain what it would be like without Starlink in Ukraine. “To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals. I am simply stating that, without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip”, he wrote.