Elon Musk refuses to help Ukraine drone attack on Crimea

On this occasion, the Ukrainian military was forced to abandon explosive-laden drones in the Black Sea after access to Starlink was removed.

So enraged was General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the leader of Ukraine’s armed forces, by the intervention that he took the matter straight to the US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the New York Times.

General Zaluzhnyi is said to have told his American counterpart that it was not the first time that Elon Musk, 52, had restricted access.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, told The Telegraph: “The issue is that at critical stages of the war, we desperately need absolute operational and technical independence.

“That is, the dependence of decision-making and its implementation must be 100 per cent. The risks for our military are too great when the course of offensive operations depends on external circumstances or third parties.”

On the system’s importance, Mr Podolyak said: “It is vital. At the very least, to balance Russian capabilities and to have effective command of large military groups.”

He added: “Starlink is about defence, advancement, and survival.

Ulrike Franke, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, has since said: “It doesn’t matter how you feel about Musk - no individual should have this power.”

Satellites operated by SpaceX firm are harnessed by the Ukrainian military to gather intelligence and stream live video from the battlefield, as well as coordinate defensive drone and artillery strikes.

It is understood that Musk could act solo in signing off on shutting down access to Starlink, which could block Ukrainian air strikes.

Kenneth Roth, a former executive director of Human Rights Watch, told the Telegraph that Kyiv’s military operations were “in effect being second guessed and sometimes rejected by Elon Musk, with his uncertain political loyalties and quirky personality”.

UKRAINE WAR LATEST:

• Russia threatens to use nuclear weapons if Ukraine retakes territory: ‘No other choice!’
• Putin admits intensified Ukraine counteroffensive as 'intense frontal assault' launched
• Putin ally sent top secret information by UK officials after email address typo - inquiry launched
• Kim Jong-un shows off nuclear missiles to Russia’s defence minister and Chinese delegation

In February, Musk made his thoughts unequivocally clear when he wrote on Twitter: “We are not allowing Starlink to be used for long-range drone strikes.”

Musk has repeatedly intervened in the Ukraine war, publishing a peace plan last year that suggested Ukraine should undergo sovereignty referendums akin to those controversially conducted by Russia in occupied regions.

The Kremlin was quick to praise the billionaire’s plan as a “positive” step, while Kyiv dismissed the notion as pro-Russian.

Also last year, Musk approached the Pentagon to fun the internet service in Ukraine due to spiralling costs.

The firm estimated that offering the service for free was costing nearly $400million(£310million) annually, according to a CNN report.

The value of SpaceX meanwhile has rocketed to nearly $140billion (£109billion)