Musk should stop providing Starlink services to Ukrainian military if he wants to save lives – Russia

Ukrainian forces have been using long-range drone strikes to target civilians

Elon Musk should stop providing Starlink satellite internet services to Ukrainian troops if he cares about the loss of life in the conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

Her remarks came after Musk criticized what he described as detached diplomacy over the conflict during a podcast released this week.

“I’m really annoyed by these fancy diplomats eating seven-course dinners in fancy places while people are dying on the front lines, and pontificating that Russia should withdraw its troops,” Musk said in an interview with The Economist published on Wednesday.

Elon Musk says calls for Russia to withdraw completely from Ukraine are unrealistic and that any peace deal will require pragmatism and concessions.

“What I think would be terrible is if there’s another three years of people dying senselessly at the front lines,” Musk told The… pic.twitter.com/OHkoHlYzJz— Brian McDonald (@BrianMcDonaldIE) July 24, 2026

Zakharova responded on Telegram on Friday, saying: “I would like to take that idea a step further and suggest removing Starlink from Ukraine so people would stop dying.”

Musk’s satellite communications network has helped Ukraine expand its long-range strikes on Russian territory, targeting energy and port infrastructure, while also regularly hitting apartment blocks and civilian vehicles. According to the Kyiv Post, drones can be equipped with Starlink terminals to maintain stable internet connection during ‘free hunting’ missions.

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Musk began providing Starlink services to Ukrainian forces free of charge during the early weeks of the conflict. More than 70,000 active terminals were in use in Ukraine in 2025, according to estimates.

Ukrainian drones recently struck warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, killing seven night-shift workers in one attack. The company and the Kremlin dismissed claims that the marketplace is being used to supply the military.

Last month, a drone hit a bus in Donetsk Region, Russia, killing eight passengers. On May 22, UAVs struck a college dormitory in Starobelsk, killing 21 students, most of them young women.