Elon Musk faces criticism after claiming Ukrainian elites profited from aid

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has faced criticism after alleging that Ukrainian elites have grown rich from foreign aid while ordinary Ukrainians are being sent to fight Russia’s invasion.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has faced criticism after alleging that Ukrainian elites have grown rich from foreign aid while ordinary Ukrainians are being sent to fight Russia’s invasion.

In posts on X on Friday, Musk claimed there was a “massive incentive difference” between Ukraine’s elites and its people.

“The former have grown very rich off the hundreds of billions flowing to Ukraine, while the latter’s children are conscripted to die in trenches,” he wrote.

Musk also alleged, without providing evidence in the posts, that some US taxpayer money sent to Ukraine was being channelled back into American political campaigns through money-laundering schemes.

His comments came amid controversy over restrictions on Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s satellite communications services, which Ukrainian forces use for battlefield communications and drone operations. The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump had asked Musk to lift the restrictions. Trump did not confirm whether he had personally contacted Musk, and Ukrainian officials said service had not been fully restored.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski challenged Musk’s claims, saying the United States had stopped providing direct funding to Ukraine and that European countries were paying for US-made weapons supplied to Kyiv.

“The more you meddle in our politics and the more you play politics with your products, the more you damage your brand,” Sikorski wrote on X.

https://x.com/sikorskiradek/status/2113547074721739180?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2113547074721739180%7Ctwgr%5E36e5152544b557334aa65881fec5881b8ac29186%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapnetn.thenews.com.pk%2Foldimages%2Fcontent%2Fposts%2Fedit%2F1421095%3Fpost_type%3D1

Republican US Representative Thomas Massie responded to Musk’s remarks by writing: “He just described every war of the modern era.”

Alexander Vindman, a former director for European affairs at the US National Security Council, criticised the handling of the Starlink restrictions and called for Congress to investigate who had authorised them.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also raised concerns about the decision to restrict the satellite service, saying it highlighted the risks of relying on technology controlled by a single provider.

Some users on X disputed Musk’s portrayal of Ukrainians, arguing that the restrictions put soldiers at risk and undermined their efforts to defend their country. Others responded with sarcasm, including one user who asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had written the post.

https://x.com/yevloop/status/2113690608795537900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2113690608795537900%7Ctwgr%5E36e5152544b557334aa65881fec5881b8ac29186%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapnetn.thenews.com.pk%2Foldimages%2Fcontent%2Fposts%2Fedit%2F1421095%3Fpost_type%3D1

One Ukrainian user addressed Musk directly, saying that many Ukrainians had once admired him as a technology entrepreneur but found his increasingly critical stance towards Ukraine difficult to understand.

The dispute has added to wider questions about the role of privately controlled satellite communications in the war and the extent to which access to such systems can be affected by political decisions.