Poland's foreign minister issues brutal warning to Elon Musk over Starlink blackout

Elon Musk has been issued with a warning by Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, following a previous public online spat over a Starlink blackout.

This comes after it was revealed that Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, has been restricted, which is impacting how Ukrainian and Russian forces could communicate on the battlefield.

Starlink uses satellites to provide internet in places where normal mobile networks and cables might not work and Ukraine relies on it heavily for military communications.

Ukraine’s restrictions to Starlink access reportedly came without warning and, according to the Kyiv Independent, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that ‘this cannot be coincidence’.

The Ukrainian military has since regained access to Starlink’s satellite communications service after the sudden disruption interfered with drone operations, but questions remain over whether the restrictions have been fully lifted.

The loss of service forced troops to abandon missions, complicating efforts to intercept Russian drones. Ukrainian officials are now seeking an explanation from SpaceX and its partners over the changes.

Sharing the report from the Kyiv Independent, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski took to X, formerly Twitter, to write: “Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you.”

Musk challenged Putin to a ‘1-on-1 physical combat’

This isn’t the first time that Sikorski has hit out at Musk on social media over his Starlink service.

Defending himself last year in a bizarre tweet, Musk wrote: “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.

“What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose. Anyone who really cares, really thinks and really understands wants the meat grinder to stop. PEACE NOW!!”

At the time, Sikorski reacted to this in a quote tweet where he said: “Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”

Musk bit back in a response which read: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”