KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 2, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine on Monday reacted angrily to a social media post by billionaire Elon Musk that made fun of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s repeated calls for Western military and financial aid to fight Russian forces.
Musk has provided Ukraine with Starlink satellite services that have been vital to the Ukrainian army, but some have criticised his statements on the war with Russia.
Musk owns the social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — where he posted a meme of Zelensky earlier Monday.
The caption read: “When it’s been five minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2023
“Any silence or irony towards Ukraine today is a direct encouragement of Russian propaganda that justifies mass violence and destruction,” presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak answered on X.
Any support for Russia today is a direct investment in war, genocide, destruction of the free world, escalation and the right to impunity. Any silence or irony towards Ukraine today is a direct encouragement of Russian propaganda that justifies mass violence and destruction.…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) October 2, 2023
Ukraine’s parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk also slammed the post while mocking Musk’s attempt to “conquer space”, after his SpaceX starship blew up shortly after blasting off in April. Stefanchuk said the attempt had said failed in five minutes and left the billionaire up to his eyeballs in problems.
The case when a dude @elonmusk tried to conquer space, but something went wrong and in 5 minutes he was up to his eyeballs in shit. https://t.co/4SW9dJNJvt
— Ruslan Stefanchuk (@r_stefanchuk) October 2, 2023
Ukraine has praised Musk for deploying the Starlink satellites that became a key battlefield tool, helping soldiers communicate in areas where telecommunications are down.
But Musk also admitted he prevented Kyiv from wiping out Russia’s Black Sea navy fleet last year by denying Starlink internet access for the attack.
He also previously angered Ukraine by proposing that Kyiv give up territorial claims in exchange for peace.
