Elon Musk has summarily rejected the charge that SpaceX disabled Starlink satellite internet during a crucial Ukrainian offensive against Russia. “The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything,” he said in a reply on his X account. Musk has done this to counter claims made in a biography to be released by Simon & Schuster on September 12. The biography talks about Musk preventing nuclear war between Ukraine and Russia. Walter Isaacson, writer of the biography claims in the biography that Musk ordered his engineers to switch off SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to prevent a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet maintaining utmost secrecy. Western media has reported about this widely.

Author has claimed that Ukrainian submarine drones loaded with explosives were approaching the Russian fleet but “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly”. “The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything,” Musk said on his part. “Both sides should agree to a truce. Every day that passes, more Ukrainian and Russian youth die to gain and lose small pieces of land, with borders barely changing. This is not worth their lives,” he added. This is not the first time Musk has requested Russia and Ukraine to try for truce.

Walter Isaacson is a well acclaimed biographer who has biographies of Steve jobs and Albert Einstein to his credit and his claims can’t be just swept under the carpet. His book claims that the decision of disabling Starlink satellite internet by Musk left Ukrainian officials pleading to him to turn the satellites back on. However, decision of Musk was driven by the fear that Russia would react to a Ukrainian attack on Crimea with nuclear weapons. Musk allegedly told the biographer that he was apprehensive about being dragged into the war and that’s why ordered SpaceX engineers to switch off the satellites as he felt that the attack would be akin to “mini Pearl Harbor” and invite a Russian nuclear retaliation.

Author has claimed in the book that Ukraine’s former DPM Mykhailo Fedorov “begged” Musk to reinstate access to the satellites. But the billionaire remained adamant and denied the request, stating that the drone attack was “going too far and inviting strategic defeat.” Writer’s claim may be right or wrong but one thing is certain that sensationalism has become a potent ploy to sell books.