Elon Musk has cult status in Ukraine. But after new statements from the richest man in the world, the atmosphere changed.

When Russia went to war with Ukraine in February last year, mobile networks and communication lines were quickly cut in some places.

For the Ukrainian military, this is a crisis, because without the ability to communicate, self-defense becomes much more difficult.

That’s when Elon Musk and his Starlink satellite communications company SpaceX came to the rescue.

Since then, white satellite receivers have appeared all over Ukraine. They provide fast and stable internet access from anywhere.

They have been used in villages without internet, by the military in command centers and, according to some sources, when Ukrainian naval drones attacked Russian warships.

They have become called the backbone in the Ukrainian defensive war.

And that makes Musk a very popular person in Ukraine.

But that popularity has now reversed.

Starlink and Musk’s technology are very important, Dimko Zhluktenko wrote to VG.

He is the founder of the organization Dzyga’s Paw, which donates technological equipment to the Ukrainian military.

“This is also a technology that Russia does not have, so Ukraine can coordinate more quickly and share more intelligence information with each other,” Zhluktenko told VG.

But at the same time that Starlink is becoming increasingly important in war, Elon Musk is also taking an increasingly clear position that he does not want Starlink to be used in war. escalating war.

In September last year, there were several reports from Ukrainian satellites that Starlink coverage suddenly dropped. This had “catastrophic” consequences, the Financial Times reported.

Ukrainian forces believe that it was Musk who implemented geographic restrictions on where Starlink equipment can be used.

On his own social media platform, X, Musk has also previously suggested that Ukraine consider ceding its land to Russia.

Because on Monday, Musk published a memesmemesOften in the form of images with funny or ironic captions that are spread over the internet. which showed a mocking photo of Zelenskyj with the caption: “When 5 minutes have passed and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.”

The Ukrainian parliament then responded to X on its official page, accusing Musk of spreading Russian propaganda.

They posted their own version with a picture of Musk and the caption:

“When 5 minutes have passed and you haven’t spread Russian propaganda”.

– Elon Musk remains the person who publishes a lot of Russian propaganda, which does not bring any benefit to Ukraine. He is not a friend of Ukraine, Zhluktenko wrote to VG.

Now the hashtag #ElonMuskIsATraitor is also super popular on social media in Ukraine.

Musk’s statement about further aid to Ukraine comes as the war continues.

With large amounts of Western military equipment, Ukrainian troops are now fighting to reclaim land that Russia has seized.

Ukraine faced strong resistance and strong defenses, meaning both countries lost many soldiers.

At the same time, the EU, NATO and the US united to show support for Ukraine, despite the fact that some Republican politicians in the US advocated limiting support for the war-torn country.

Earlier this week, almost all EU foreign ministers attended a historic meeting in Kyiv. They are there to show that the European Union is very united in supporting Ukraine.

– This is also a message to Russia that they should not count on us to get tired. We will persist for a long time, said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, according to NTB.