Polish Ministry just reminded Elon Musk why he can’t call the shots in Ukraine
Elon Musk entered yet another heated skirmish online at his own social media platform, X. The tech billionaire threatened to cut off Ukraine’s Starlink access. Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs then reminded Musk exactly why he couldn’t.
In an X tweet, Musk suggested that “the top 10 Ukrainian oligarchs” should be sanctioned to stop the war. An X user reminded Musk that Ukraine is the victim in the war, and that Russia is the aggressor. Musk wrote in reply, “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.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski fired back against Musk’s perceived threat. “Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. 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.”
Instead of de-escalating, Musk decided to mock Sikorski. “Be quiet, small man,” tweeted Musk in his reply. “You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also joined the fray and defended Musk. He claimed that nobody “threatened to cut off” Starlink services in Ukraine. He added in his own tweet, “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.”
Social media users found Musk’s and Rubio’s online ambush of Sikorski distasteful. “You’re openly admitting that Ukraine’s front line depends on you, and you could turn it off anytime? That’s not “peace advocacy,” that’s hostage diplomacy,” criticized one X user.
No need for thanks
Following the X feud, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, indirectly censured Rubio and Musk through a tweet. “True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones. Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it.” Regardless, Musk seems to have piped down as well. After the brash back-and-forth, he clarified in a later tweet that “Starlink will never turn off its terminals,” despite his disagreements with Ukraine’s policy.
Musk claimed that Poland only paid for a small fraction of Starlinks in Ukraine. Reportedly, more than 20,000 Starlinks from Poland were lent to Ukraine since 2022. In 2024, Ukraine announced that they had 42,000 Starlinks in operation. Contrary to Musk’s statement, Poland’s contribution accounts for more than half. Simply put, it’s a paid service—there’s no need for Poland to ingratiate itself to either Musk or the United States.
Given growing distrust for Musk, Europe is already eyeing a Starlink replacement. Last Thursday, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke announced that talks about substituting Starlinks with OneWeb—Eutelsat’s own satellite high-speed internet—are intensifying with the European Union. Berneke said it will take “a couple of months” to deploy 40,000 terminals—which will stand in to replace the Starlinks. It seems that there is, in fact, an alternative to Starlink.
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