Putin heaps praise on "outstanding" Elon Musk, says Russia's moon missions will continue

[midian182]

What just happened? Praise is usually welcomed no matter who hands it out, though being called an outstanding person and talented businessman by Vladimir Putin isn't something to brag about. The Russian President handed out the compliments to Elon Musk just days after it was revealed that the CEO had prevented Ukrainian drones from sinking Russian warships in Crimea.

Putin made the comments while speaking about Russia's space program at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. "As for private business, Elon Musk, he is certainly an outstanding person," Putin said. "I think it will be recognized throughout the world. He is an active, talented businessman."

The Russian president's words came days after an excerpt from 'Elon Musk,' a biography of the world's richest person, claimed that Musk secretly ordered Starlink engineers to turn off satellite communications near the Crimean coast in 2022 as Ukrainian submarine drones approached the Russian naval fleet for a surprise attack. The SpaceX boss is said to have been worried that Putin would respond by using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Musk later posted about the incident on former Twitter platform, X. He said that there was an emergency request from Ukrainian government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol, with the obvious intent to sink most of the Russian fleet. "If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation," he wrote.

There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol.

The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor.

If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and…

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023

Putin noted how Musk does business with support from the US government, and that Russia is also "willing to develop" support for private businesses in the country.

Last month, Russia launched its first lunar lander in 47 years to explore the Moon's polar region. Following a 10-day trip to the Moon's south pole, the LUNA-25 lander experienced unspecified issues when attempting to begin its pre-landing orbit, resulting in it crashing on the lunar surface.

Putin promised to continue to explore the Moon despite the failure of LUNA-25. He also reminded listeners that other global space programs had failed missions in the past.

"It's a pity, of course, that the lunar landing failed. But this does not mean that we will close this program," he said. "We will continue working."

Musk faced accusations of being sympathetic to Russia last year after he posted a 'Ukraine peace plan' poll. It suggested a redo of the sham elections that took place in occupied areas of Ukraine that led to Putin authorizing their annexation, but this time they are performed under UN supervision, and Russia must leave if it is the will of the people. Musk had previously offered to fight Putin in single combat over the future of Ukraine.

Musk might be used to receiving praise from unwanted sources. Back in July, Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban leader, applauded Twitter's commitment to free speech and blasted Meta's "intolerant policy."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100121-putin-heaps-praise-outstanding-elon-musk-russia-moon.html

 

[wiyosaya]

I'm sure Musk will suck it up and put the feather in his cap.

Next up - Putin invites Musk to the Kremlin for Tea and Crumpets.

 

[Thatsdisgusting]

Nah, turned out he's not so smart when trying to play geopolitics. ALL OF A SUDDEN.

I.e. he was dumb enough to throw something like that before, and now US gov wanna have him by the balls while putin totally happy to play along so US would topple over this kind of "great asset" like musk and his spaceX&starlink

 

[Dimitriid]

Remember when some folks either said 'Well it's not technically Treason' or were far more outraged in their responses? I bet you might want to reconsider how well those comments aged since this pretty much settles that the 'warnings' to take Starlink offline came directly from the top man in Russia it seems.

At the very least we can agree that if a private company will offer services to a military operation of a US or US ally they should immediately and irrevocably lose control of day-to-day operations and required quite an exhaustive process to terminate their contracts: I'm sure if these terms are unacceptable to mr Musk other ventures will step in to offer satellite based telecommunications.

 

[DixieFatline]

One thing is pulling out of Russia - for example McDonalds - another is taking active part in the war. I'm sure it was not an easy decision to make and I do not think it is right to judge the guy from the comfort of an arm chair. SpaceX is not a weapons manufacturer and does not have the same privileges as these. If we want them to be more like an arms manufacturer, get out your wallet.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Remember when some folks either said 'Well it's not technically Treason' or were far more outraged in their responses? I bet you might want to reconsider how well those comments aged since this pretty much settles that the 'warnings' to take Starlink offline came directly from the top man in Russia it seems.

At the very least we can agree that if a private company will offer services to a military operation of a US or US ally they should immediately and irrevocably lose control of day-to-day operations and required quite an exhaustive process to terminate their contracts: I'm sure if these terms are unacceptable to mr Musk other ventures will step in to offer satellite based telecommunications.

Both Russia and Ukraine are neither ally nor enemy. There's no treason lol. If he was a Ukrainian citizen maybe, but he's American.

Also "if a private company will offer services to a military operation of a US or US ally" and they don't like some of their other business, that's an absurd statement to make that suddenly the government should take control of said business. That's something a dictator would do. Instead, they would cancel all contracts. Obviously Ukraine is happy to continue using Starlink and the US government is happy to use SpaceX as a launch provider because they have not canceled any contracts. And if they did cancel their contracts, I'm sure Musk would be fine with it because he has a lot of other customers.

It's weird how you're politicizing forcing a private American citizen to be involved in taking military action whose role is operating an ISP within Ukraine. They also can't provide internet service within Russian-controlled territory, which is why this whole debacle came up. You obviously see Ukraine as an ally, but it is not an ally of the US. I do find it questionable that our country is sending so many financial resources to Ukraine's military, but next year's elections will give Americans a say in that.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

I'm sure Musk will suck it up and put the feather in his cap.

Next up - Putin invites Musk to the Kremlin for Tea and Crumpets.

You could say the same thing about people who are woke every time someone racist agrees with them:

 

[axiomatic13]

You could say the same thing about people who are woke every time someone racist agrees with them:

The guy on the left only exists in your mind. It is a pathetic stereotype.

 

[VitalyT]

One thing is pulling out of Russia - for example McDonalds - another is taking active part in the war. I'm sure it was not an easy decision to make and I do not think it is right to judge the guy from the comfort of an arm chair. SpaceX is not a weapons manufacturer and does not have the same privileges as these. If we want them to be more like an arms manufacturer, get out your wallet.

Companies like McDonalds and StarBucks pulling out of Russia is the best thing that happened in the country. The shops slightly changed the titles, and started selling the same products, but of much better quality, at half-price. And the companies that are gone cannot make any copyright or any other claims. This is a win-win, for both customers and businesses in Russia.

Here's one example of such rebranding - https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/rebranded-starbucks-reopens-in-russia-under-name-stars-coffee/2664778#:~:text=The first cafe of the,till the end of September.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

The guy on the left only exists in your mind. It is a pathetic stereotype.

It's satire, so both only exist in the mind lol. The fact that you didn't realize that means you are buying into the stereotype. I was going along with the original joke, just from a different point of view.

 

[mattferg]

Companies like McDonalds and StarBucks pulling out of Russia is the best thing that happened in the country. The shops slightly changed the titles, and started selling the same products, but of much better quality, at half-price. And the companies that are gone cannot make any copyright or any other claims. This is a win-win, for both customers and businesses in Russia.

Here's one example of such rebranding - https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/rebranded-starbucks-reopens-in-russia-under-name-stars-coffee/2664778#:~:text=The first cafe of the,till the end of September.

Hi comrade! Please stop spreading propaganda - the takeover of McDonalds was found to be selling literally rotting food.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Apparently Elon Musk just commented yesterday that if the White House had requested Starlink be enabled for Crimea, he would've honored that request. This is the source of this information:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1701628430016716957

 

[hover389]

Techspot still trying to make the case that Musk giving hundreds of millions of dollars worth of free satellite connectivity for defenses purposes in Ukraine for their military was a bad thing.

Also stop spreading misinformation! Musk did not turn off connection during the attack. He didnt turn it on. The deal was defensive purposes only and Ukraine broke that deal trying to use it for offensive purposes. This is on them

 

[nnguy2]

Apparently Elon Musk just commented yesterday that if the White House had requested Starlink be enabled for Crimea, he would've honored that request. This is the source of this information:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1701628430016716957

Some dude's twitter rant is evidence now?

 

[Tantor]

You could say the same thing about people who are woke every time someone racist agrees with them:

Great video!

It highlights a fundamental problem in most debates between Left and Right, the failure to define terms such as 'woke' and 'racist'. Voltaire supposedly said “If you wish to converse with me, define your terms.”

 

[Tantor]

The guy on the left only exists in your mind. It is a pathetic stereotype.

Well.. he's actually typical of much of Western society. Probably half. Wokeism is just a recent term for Leftism. The left-right battle is very old, going back thousands of years. Even the Bible comments on it:

"And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.... Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" -- Mattew 25:33

So it won't be solved anytime soon. LOL

 

[FF222]

Techspot still trying to make the case that Musk giving hundreds of millions of dollars worth of free satellite connectivity for defenses purposes

Yeah, he did no such thing, but instead just leeched off government/taxpayers money - like he always did and does, also with Tesla and SpaceX.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/01/starlink-ukraine-pentagon-elon-musk/

Then again, fanbois are fanbois just because they have no clue of the actual facts - or if they do, they'll just lie about them.

 

[brucek]

Does Russia have a realistic capability to destroy or otherwise disable the Starlink satellites?

If so, I'm not sure what options a private company would have absent firm direction & guarantees from the US government, which is the only entity that would have the capability to defend, retaliate, and/or compensate for the loss of these very expensive assets. There's a lot of other Starlink users who would be bummed if they were permanently lost too.

If not, he's working against the foreign policy of his government for no justifiable reason I can see, and it does seem all his businesses require an unusual degree of government support and/or have the US government as a major customer...

 

[kiwigraeme]

Elon is going to Elon

No idea how SpaceX is run - but hopefully Elon is smart enough to stay out of all but the most strategic decisions - probably same for all other of his holdings

Tesla cars outside of driver help - are not improving fast enough - and really nothing special - May see Chinese EVs taking 30% of market in 10 years ( yes China as some very bad manufacturers - evidence huge dumping of bad EVs in massive stockpiles ).

SpaceX has an inherent flaw - huge investment - that could be taken out with some new few super satellites or land based alternative - that could happen in short time

 

[nulll]

Yeah, he did no such thing, but instead just leeched off government/taxpayers money - like he always did and does, also with Tesla and SpaceX.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/01/starlink-ukraine-pentagon-elon-musk/

Then again, fanbois are fanbois just because they have no clue of the actual facts - or if they do, they'll just lie about them.

Yeah, he did no such thing, but instead just leeched off government/taxpayers money - like he always did and does, also with Tesla and SpaceX.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/01/starlink-ukraine-pentagon-elon-musk/

Then again, fanbois are fanbois just because they have no clue of the actual facts - or if they do, they'll just lie about them.

We'll try some fact based therapy here and reevaluate the prognosis post reading shall we?

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-was-elon-musks-ukraine-starlink-funded-biden-white-house-1749103

Yes, SpaceX via Musk did "Donate" access to substantial hardware and the provision of logistical support for Ukraine in the early days of the war. This was augmented by further purchase and provision of resources by the Pentagon.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/14/musk-says-spacex-cannot-fund-ukraines-internet

Months into the conflict once the Ukrainians had gotten on their feet and started hitting the Russians hard the international discourse began to shift toward what level of fail state would be required to trigger a Russian tactical nuclear response. Musk and others began to question the consequences of Western resources continuing to pour into the conflict.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/14/musk-says-spacex-cannot-fund-ukraines-internet

No, there has been no leeching of any kind. The pentagon entered into a provision of services and logistics contract with SpaceX/Starlink earlier this summer. This has been as transparent as is possible when dealing with anything related to ongoing military operations. Something something lips, something something ships and all that.

https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...n-buys-starlink-ukraine-statement-2023-06-01/

Subscription locked pieces by formerly laudable yet presently dubious citations such as the Washington post should be viewed with the utmost cynicism, ever since their staff failed to realize that anti-slap didn't apply to publications about minors their integrity has been less than stellar. Doesn't mean they're necessarily incorrect but they do have a history.

 

[toooooot]

Both Russia and Ukraine are neither ally nor enemy.

And yet strangely it feels a lot like pre ww2. Russians committed war atrocities, rape torture murder of adults and children.
Russia walks step in step where Germans did before. And they must pay for that or else this conflict will only grow.
Familiarize yourself what is a common believe among Putin's people (and such his too).
Or let me bring few believes: "Baltic countries had no right to split" "northern Kaakstan owns our territories, it must be returned" "Ukraine and Belorussia should be a part of Russia" and finally, "We did not lose everything after USSR fell apart, west made it and therefore this is unfair and must be all returned."
There is a next nazi nation brewing. And to not recognize it, or similarly by saying "they are neither allies nor enemies," shows lack of common knowledge of our history and outcomes of one nation's need to expand disregarding international laws or even simple human empathy.

 

[PEnnn]

Apparently Elon Musk just commented yesterday that if the White House had requested Starlink be enabled for Crimea, he would've honored that request. This is the source of this information:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1701628430016716957

Ah yes, the "smart" billionaire and his shills are now pushing the blame for backstabbing Ukraine towards the White House.

How original!!

 

[wiyosaya]

Apparently Elon Musk just commented yesterday that if the White House had requested Starlink be enabled for Crimea, he would've honored that request. This is the source of this information:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1701628430016716957

All anyone needs to remember about Musk that he called the diver who rescued the children trapped in the cave a few years back a pedo. That says it all about Musk.

 

[loki1944]

I'm sure Musk will suck it up and put the feather in his cap.

Next up - Putin invites Musk to the Kremlin for Tea and Crumpets.

LOL

 

[loki1944]

And yet strangely it feels a lot like pre ww2. Russians committed war atrocities, rape torture murder of adults and children.
Russia walks step in step where Germans did before. And they must pay for that or else this conflict will only grow.
Familiarize yourself what is a common believe among Putin's people (and such his too).
Or let me bring few believes: "Baltic countries had no right to split" "northern Kaakstan owns our territories, it must be returned" "Ukraine and Belorussia should be a part of Russia" and finally, "We did not lose everything after USSR fell apart, west made it and therefore this is unfair and must be all returned."
There is a next nazi nation brewing. And to not recognize it, or similarly by saying "they are neither allies nor enemies," shows lack of common knowledge of our history and outcomes of one nation's need to expand disregarding international laws or even simple human empathy.

Well both sides are committing atrocities and one side has neo nazi units (Azov); so it's more like a mini Eastern Front 2.0