Joseph Nuthalapati :fbx:
and 1 other
boosted
Good ideas are popular, from @pluralistic
Good ideas are popular, from @pluralistic
Gabriele Svelto
and 3 others
boosted
We all suspected it, now it’s confirmed.
#Musk ordered shutdown of #Starlink satellite service as #Ukraine retook territory from #Russia
A previously unreported order by #ElonMusk to cut satellite #communications over a portion of Ukraine disrupted a counteroffensive by Kyiv in the autumn of 2022. Reuters investigated the billionaire's order & its implications for countries increasingly reliant on his Starlink internet service.
#power #corruption #oligarchy
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/musk-ordered-shutdown-starlink-satellite-service-ukraine-retook-territory-russia-2025-07-25/
Tim Chambers
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But #Musk’s order, which hasn’t previously been reported, is the first known instance of the billionaire actively [& personally] shutting off #Starlink coverage over a battlefield during the conflict. The decision shocked some Starlink employees & effectively reshaped the front line of the fighting, enabling #Musk to take “the outcome of a war into his own hands,” another one of the three people said.
Greg Lloyd
boosted
Upon #Musk’s order, #Ukraine troops suddenly faced a #communications #blackout, acc/to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, & 2 others who experienced #Starlink failure near the front lines. Soldiers panicked, drones surveilling #Russia forces went dark, & long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets.
Greg Lloyd
boosted
“We have to do this,” Michael Nicolls, the #Starlink engineer, told colleagues upon receiving the order from #Musk, one of these people said. Staffers complied, the 3 people told Reuters, deactivating at least a hundred Starlink terminals, their hexagon-shaped cells going dark on an internal map of the company’s coverage. The move also affected other areas seized by #Russia, including some of #Donetsk province further east.
As a result,…troops failed to surround a Russian position in the town of Beryslav, east of Kherson, the administrative center of the region of the same name. “The encirclement stalled entirely,” said the military official in an interview. “It failed.”
Ultimately, #Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeded in reclaiming Beryslav, the city of Kherson & some additional territory #Russia had occupied.
But #Musk’s order, which hasn’t previously been reported, is the first known instance of the billionaire actively [& personally] shutting off #Starlink coverage over a battlefield during the conflict. The decision shocked some Starlink employees & effectively reshaped the front line of the fighting, enabling #Musk to take “the outcome of a war into his own hands,” another one of the three people said.
Upon #Musk’s order, #Ukraine troops suddenly faced a #communications #blackout, acc/to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, & 2 others who experienced #Starlink failure near the front lines. Soldiers panicked, drones surveilling #Russia forces went dark, & long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets.
As a result,…troops failed to surround a Russian position in the town of Beryslav, east of Kherson, the administrative center of the region of the same name. “The encirclement stalled entirely,” said the military official in an interview. “It failed.”
Ultimately, #Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeded in reclaiming Beryslav, the city of Kherson & some additional territory #Russia had occupied.
“We have to do this,” Michael Nicolls, the #Starlink engineer, told colleagues upon receiving the order from #Musk, one of these people said. Staffers complied, the 3 people told Reuters, deactivating at least a hundred Starlink terminals, their hexagon-shaped cells going dark on an internal map of the company’s coverage. The move also affected other areas seized by #Russia, including some of #Donetsk province further east.
Upon #Musk’s order, #Ukraine troops suddenly faced a #communications #blackout, acc/to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, & 2 others who experienced #Starlink failure near the front lines. Soldiers panicked, drones surveilling #Russia forces went dark, & long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets.
During a pivotal push by #Ukraine to retake territory from #Russia in late Sept 2022, #ElonMusk gave an order that disrupted the counteroffensive & dented Kyiv’s trust in #Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided to help Ukraine’s military maintain battlefield connectivity.
Acc/to 3 people familiar with the command, #Musk told a senior engineer at the California offices of #SpaceX to cut coverage in areas including #Kherson, a strategic region north of the #BlackSea.
“We have to do this,” Michael Nicolls, the #Starlink engineer, told colleagues upon receiving the order from #Musk, one of these people said. Staffers complied, the 3 people told Reuters, deactivating at least a hundred Starlink terminals, their hexagon-shaped cells going dark on an internal map of the company’s coverage. The move also affected other areas seized by #Russia, including some of #Donetsk province further east.
We all suspected it, now it’s confirmed.
#Musk ordered shutdown of #Starlink satellite service as #Ukraine retook territory from #Russia
A previously unreported order by #ElonMusk to cut satellite #communications over a portion of Ukraine disrupted a counteroffensive by Kyiv in the autumn of 2022. Reuters investigated the billionaire's order & its implications for countries increasingly reliant on his Starlink internet service.
#power #corruption #oligarchy
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/musk-ordered-shutdown-starlink-satellite-service-ukraine-retook-territory-russia-2025-07-25/
The usual amazing interview with Cory Doctorow:
"In this episode of Dot Social, recorded live at the Fediverse House at SXSW 2025, Doctorow unpacks the concept of “enshittification.” ... He talks about how to challenge platform monopolies and the importance of true federation."
The Epstein case is important because it implodes the fiction of deep divisions between Democrats, who had no more interest in releasing the Epstein files than Trump, and the Republicans. They belong to the same club.
It exposes how the courts and law enforcement agencies collude to shield powerful figures who are accountable to no one, violate, plunder, loot and prey on the weak and the vulnerable.
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/trump-epstein-and-the-deep-state
hiding from plagues ☣️♿
boosted
“Democracies don't treat old ladies as terrorists for objecting to genocide”
by Ricky Hale And Council Estate Media on Substack
“Our ‘democracy’ is a lie”
https://open.substack.com/pub/councilestatemedia/p/democracies-dont-treat-old-ladies
#Press #UK#Labour#Starmer #Democracy#Dictatorship#Terrorism#AbuseOfPower#Genocide#Gaza#Protest#Resistance#Fascist#Oligarchy
“Democracies don't treat old ladies as terrorists for objecting to genocide”
by Ricky Hale And Council Estate Media on Substack
“Our ‘democracy’ is a lie”
https://open.substack.com/pub/councilestatemedia/p/democracies-dont-treat-old-ladies
#Press #UK#Labour#Starmer #Democracy#Dictatorship#Terrorism#AbuseOfPower#Genocide#Gaza#Protest#Resistance#Fascist#Oligarchy