Did Starlink's Musk help Russia fend off Ukrainian submarine attack?

A soon-to-be-published biography on Elon Musk reveals new details linked to a Ukrainian submarine attack on a Russian fleet are revealed, alleging that the SpaceX and Starlink CEO purposedly cut off his satellite internet service precisely at that moment which led to the offense not succeding.

As reported by the Washington Post, the biography has been written by former Chief Executive of CNN, Walter Isaacson and depicts the moment how the Ukrainian army lost connectivity which led to the submarine drones, meant to attack a Russian naval fleet near the Crimean coast, "washing ashore harmlessly". Following this incident, Ukrainian and American officials allegedly attempted to get the internet service restored and appealed to Starlink founder Musk directly, to which he eventually agreed.

The publication recalls, that Musk agreed to provide Ukraine with millions of dollars of SpaceX-made Starlink satellite terminals at the beginning of the Russian offense after their communications systems were heavily disrupted by attacks from the Russian army. The Starlink terminals allowed Ukraine's military and civil population to remain connected and online, even as cellular phone and internet networks had been destroyed.

According to the ex-CNN executive, Musk’s decision to re-active services was driven by an acute fear that Russia would respond to this Ukrainian attack on Crimea with nuclear weapons, a scenario which Musk thought to be probable following conversations with senior Russian officials.

Following the publication of this damning extract from the book, Musk issued a comment over his X (former Twitter) page, arguing that the said satellites were never turned on in the first place and that he merely chose not to activate them at the time of the Ukrainian attack.

Isaacson's book titled "How am I in this war?" will be published on September 12 and explores how entrepreneur Musk evolved into becoming a power broker in the Russian-Ukrainian war and the dependability both conflict sides have to his services. He had previously written the acclaimed biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.