An adviser to the head of the presidential office, Mykhaylo Podolyak, has reacted to a tweet published by US entrepreneur and owner of the X social network Elon Musk with a "joke" about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his calls to help Ukraine.
Podolyak said that "any support for Russia today is a direct investment in war, genocide, the murder of the free world, escalation and the right to impunity". His comment does not directly point to Musk, but the context of the post suggests who he is referring to.
"Any silence or irony over Ukraine today is an unconditional encouragement of Russian propaganda that justifies mass violence and destruction. Unfortunately, not everyone and not always, being important media figures, but being thousands of kilometres away from the epicentre of the war, is able to understand what daily bombings and cries of children losing their parents are like," he said.
Musk has previously provided Ukraine with Starlink satellite internet devices, but he also disrupted a Ukrainian special operation in Crimea. SpaceX did not activate Starlink in the region at the request of the Ukrainian authorities. Musk explained his decision was due to sanctions.
In addition, Musk has been involved in scandals several times during the full-scale war because of his statements or actions regarding Ukraine. He said that his social network would not delete former Russian President Medvedev's post about the "disappearance" of Ukraine. The billionaire also called the Maydan rallies a "coup".
Today he posted a photo of the Ukrainian president with the caption "When it's been 5 minutes and you haven't asked for a billion dollars in aid".