Pardon me, but who is Musk?

Musk is a "tough guy," the founder of SpaceX, PayPal, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, and the chief designer, CEO and chairman of the directors' board  of Tesla Inc. At least, that's what Wikipedia says.

Despite all these well-known biographical details and, undoubtedly, achievements, I would add that Elon Musk is a smug, arrogant character who suddenly decided that he was empowered (by someone unknown) to decide the fate of millions. I suspect that what prompted the American "oligarch" to come up with such a bold opinion was his successful hype mongering, as well as his not-so-clean manipulations around financial issues.

It is known that Musk is supplying Starlink systems to Ukraine, which are essential for the successful communication of troops on the front line, where there is no traditional Internet. Initially, the gesture of SpaceX and its owner looked noble and beautiful. But then "something went wrong". In October last year, after a successful offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the front, the Financial Times reported systematic interruptions in Starlink's operation. In response, Musk said that he was simply not paid. But, as it turned out, this explanation was, to put it mildly, untrue, as the funds for the maintenance and use of the systems were paid on time. After that, the tempest in a teapot seemed to calm down.

But no. Recently, Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, announced restrictions imposed by the company on the use of Starlink satellite internet by the Ukrainian defense forces for drone control. It turns out that quick-witted Ukrainians have begun installing Starlink on drones and accurately hitting enemy targets. Gwynne Shotwell insists (after almost a year of using the systems in combat) that the satellite Internet was "never intended to be used as a weapon."

What can I say? Conscious manipulation, reckless (and, in my opinion, criminal) pacifism? Or, perhaps, playing on the side of the aggressor, covered by "charitable gestures of limited action"? Given the wave of such questions, Musk himself was able to answer them. He admitted that "Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially on the front line, where almost all other Internet capabilities have been destroyed." But then, pay attention to the scale of the statement: "We will not allow an escalation of the conflict that could lead to World War III."

Wow! World War III has already been going on, and, according to my (and other) versions, not even since 2014, the moment Russia annexed Crimea and tried to take a bite off Ukraine's Donbas. It has been going on since 2007, when Putin delivered his "programmatic" Munich speech and attacked Georgia the following year. The "special military operation," which is in fact a punitive, genocidal war against Ukraine, is just another (and, Heaven forbid, not the last) stage of this war.

Musk realizes this perfectly well. But his "pacifism" has, I would say, a specific cyclical character. It miraculously coincides in time with the Kremlin's efforts to force Ukraine and a coalition of more than 70 countries to negotiate. Obviously, it is not out of "goodwill" but because of the inability to defeat Ukraine by military means and, I emphasize, because of the animal sense of its own catastrophic defeat on the battlefield.

The first time, as I mentioned, Musk's "peacekeeping dove" arrived after the successful offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkiv sector. Back then, the hyper and "oligarch" proposed to give Crimea to Russia out of the clear sky, and for Ukraine to become a neutral state. Without ceremony: to forgive the war criminal Putin and his retinue for the genocide of Ukrainians, rocket attacks on civilians, thousands of victims, and the destruction of a third of the country is to actually capitulate to the evil empire. Thus, to save it from collapse, to give a new impetus to aggressive encroachments, and to give grounds for the Kremlin grandfather's wet dreams of resuscitating the USSR. "The majority of Ukraine definitely wants to be part of Ukraine, but some eastern parts have a Russian majority and prefer Russia," - no, this is not Solovyov's or Skabeyeva's delirium, this is Musk's. Elon Musk modeled on the fall of 2022.

I understand that money and the dubious authority of an influencer can provoke anyone to impulsively reassess their own persona. But, excuse me, who is Musk to determine the fate of millions? Who is he to exchange the concept of freedom for entire nations for his own popularity for the sake of hype?

A Third World War he wants to prevent…

About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Espreso Zahid website.

The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.