Elon Musk

Elon Musk features in this update through outgoing Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who counted persuading Musk to deny Russian forces access to Starlink among his ministry's achievements as he left office on 15 July 2026.

Musk is the founder and chief executive of SpaceX, which built and operates the Starlink satellite internet network. Starlink terminals have been widely used by Ukrainian forces for battlefield communications, which places decisions over who can access the network, and where, in Musk's hands rather than a state authority's.

Fedorov's claim underlines how a private company's access rules can carry direct military consequence in this war: keeping Russian forces off a network Ukraine relies on was treated as a ministerial-level accomplishment worth citing on departure.