Musk lays out new version of Starlink shutdown over Crimea

The entrepreneur addressed the issue at the All-In Summit technology conference in Los Angeles, Ukrinform reports.

The restrictions were put in place because the Crimean region was switched off for Starlink as the United States had imposed sanctions on Russia, which Musk says includes Crimea, so the company was not allowed to provide connectivity services to a sanctioned country without the U.S. government approval.

“Although I’m not President Biden’s biggest fan, if I received a presidential directive to turn it on, I would’ve done so… no such request came through,” Musk told the conference.

It was previously reported that Musk secretly ordered the shutdown of Starlink connectivity services near Crimea last year to thwart a Ukrainian attack on the Russian Navy base. Musk allegedly feared that Moscow would retaliate with nuclear weapons.

Later, he stated that he did not instruct his staff to turn off the Starlink satellite network near the coast of occupied Crimea because it was not operating in the area in the first place.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation into SpaceX after CEO Elon Musk admitted blocking Ukraine's access to the Starlink satellite network in the leadup to the planned attack on Russian warships off the coast of Crimea.