- Elon Musk was challenged by a Sky News reporter on Wednesday.
- He was asked whether his "ego and ignorance" had cost Ukrainian lives.
SpaceX chief Elon Musk was challenged by a reporter on whether his decision to thwart a Ukrainian attack on the Russian navy by not activating Starlink satellites had cost Ukrainian lives.
James Matthews, Sky News' US correspondent, on Tuesday questioned Musk as he left a meeting with the Federal Aviation Authority in Washington, DC.
Musk refused to answer when asked if his "ego and ignorance" had cost Ukrainian lives, or when asked to comment about Russian President Vladimir Putin's description of him as "outstanding."
—Sky News (@SkyNews) September 13, 2023
"Vladimir Putin calls you outstanding, Mr. Musk. Do you appreciate that? What would you call Vladimir Putin? Has your ego and ignorance, sir, cost Ukrainian lives? A senior war official says it has," said Matthews.
Musk is facing criticism after Walter Isaacson, in his new biography of the billionaire, revealed that Musk had halted a Ukrainian attack on the Russian navy in Sevastopol, Crimea, in the early weeks of the Ukraine war.
Musk refused to activate Starlink satellites being used to guide Ukrainian drones to their targets, Isaacson has said, correcting his initial account in which he said Musk had turned them off.
"The war in Ukraine, when no other company or even country could manage to keep communications satellites working, gave him a center-stage opportunity to show his humanitarian instincts while playing superhero," said Isaacson.
"It also showed the complexities of critical military infrastructure being controlled by an often well-intentioned but mercurial private citizen."
Musk in a tweet said if he hadn't stopped the attack "then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation."
Ukraine has criticized the decision, with Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that by foiling the attack Musk "allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities", resulting in the deaths of civilians.
The Kremlin has praised it, with Putin describing Musk as an "outstanding person" on Wednesday.
Other critics say Musk's claim the attack would've escalated the conflict was wrong, and have pointed to other attacks Ukrainian attacks on Sevastopol, including one on Tuesday, that have not resulted in a massive Russian retaliation.