Blinken says Elon Musk's Starlink 'vital tool' to Ukraine

Musk said he turned off the service to stop a Ukrainian attack on Russian ships

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service is a “vital tool” for Ukraine, after reports the billionaire turned off the network to thwart an attack on Russian naval ships last year.

The SpaceX chief executive recently confirmed an account from a coming biography in which he described blocking access to his Starlink satellite network over Crimea to disrupt a Ukrainian attack on the Russian navy there.

“I can’t speak to a specific episode,” Mr Blinken said on CNN.

“Here’s what I can tell you: Starlink has been a vital tool for the Ukrainians to be able to communicate with each other, and particularly for the military to communicate in their effort to defend all of Ukraine’s territory.

“So what we would hope and expect is that that technology will remain fully available to the Ukrainians. It is vital to what they’re doing.”

Mr Musk acknowledged in his biography that he blocked internet access from his satellites to prevent SpaceX from being “complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation".

According to the book, due out on Tuesday and written by journalist Walter Isaacson, Mr Musk said that the Ukrainian drones “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly” because he was worried about a “mini-Pearl Harbour” event.

Ukrainian troops have been relying on Starlink services since early 2022, after Russia invaded Kyiv and disrupted the country's communication systems.

When asked if Mr Musk may be conducting his own diplomatic contacts to the Russian government, Mr Blinken said: “I can’t speak to conversations that may or may have not happened. I don’t know.

“I’m focused on the fact that the technology itself – Starlink – has been really important to the Ukrainians.

“It remains so and it should continue to be part of what they’re able to call on to be able to communicate with themselves and, again, to have the military be able to communicate.”

Mr Blinken made an unannounced visit to Kyiv last week where he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and unveiled another $1 billion in military and civilian aid for the Ukraine.

The visit came after western officials warned that Ukraine's summer counter-offensive against Russia has been going “slower than anticipated”.

US officials maintain that “notable progress” has been made in recent days.