Elon Musk Criticized By Zelenskyy Aide For Curbing Ukraine From Using Starlink For Drones: 'Have To Decide…Side(s)'

A senior Ukrainian presidential aide sharply criticized Elon Musk after SpaceX took steps to prevent its Starlink satellite communications service from controlling drones.

What Happened: Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reacting to Musk with anger, said his company had failed to recognize Ukraine's right to self-defense.

The comments from Podolyak comes after SpaceX's chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said it has limited Kyiv's ability to use its satellite internet service for military purposes after reports that Kyiv has used it to control drones.

See Also: Robinhood CEO Dismisses Tie-Up Plans With Elon Musk’s Twitter As Cashtags For Bitcoin, Dogecoin Spark Rumors

At a conference in the U.S., Shotwell said the surprise decision was taken because the company never intended to allow Starlink to be used "for offensive purposes."

Shotwell added that Starlink was "never, never meant to be weaponized" by Ukraine.

"Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement," she said.

Starlink has played a critical role in Kyiv's fight against Vladimir Putin's invasion.  

Zelenskyy's advisor said the companies had to decide if they were "on the side of the right to freedom" or "on the Russian Federation's side and its ‘right' to kill and seize territories" after its unprecedented war that started last year.

Meanwhile, Musk, last week, railed against a Russian state TV host and Putin's ally for calling him a “war criminal” over his company’s support for Ukraine. Vladimir Solovyov had said that Musk was “in principle, a war criminal” as the Starlinks he had provided to Ukraine were "all now being used to create attack drones of various power degrees.”

Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Check out more of Benzinga’s Europe and Asia coverage by following this link.