SpaceX has restricted APU access to the Starlink internet, ostensibly to prevent it from being used for offensive purposes. Apparently, they forgot that Ukraine is waging a defensive war to return its territories.
However, we must be aware that at the beginning of the war, Elon Musk really effectively helped us. Mikhail Podolyak, Advisor to the Head of the President's Office, spoke about another scandal with the founder of SpaceX, the bloody finale of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Ukraine's preparations for the return of Crimea in an exclusive interview forChannel 24.
Recall that in the first part of the interview, we talked about the recent visits of Vladimir Zelensky to Europe, long-range missiles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and much more. Read the first part of the interview with Mikhail Podolyak here.
About SpaceX's decision to restrict APU access to Starlink internet
The other day, the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mikhail Fedorov, said that Elon Musk helps us a lot and spoke about cooperation. Subsequently, we received information that SpaceX limited access to the Starlink Internet to the Ukrainian military to control drones. for communication, but do not want it to be used offensively. Offensive actions in the sense that we are going to Belgorod or Kursk, or are we talking about offensive goals – the return of our land? These are slightly different offensive targets.
Our goals are not offensive, as they understand. We have a defensive war with the de-occupation of our lands. This is a very clear criterion, which we clearly fix within the framework of absolute international law – this is a defensive war to liberate our occupied territories. This is a fundamental legal term.
Elon Musk and SpaceX President Gwen Shotwell are really helping us a lot. Firstly, we must be aware that from the first days of the war, Elon Musk definitely allowed us to get an effective mobile communication system, and without it there is no way in the war.
Secondly , Elon Musk is now looking for another place in the global world. He wants to be much more than the founder of SpaceX, or the author of Tesla, or the author of Starlink, etc. He wants to gain a reputation as a political expert.
This is a very complex process, because people occupying certain levels of popularity or power want to increase their influence on the formation of the principles of the modern worldview. Therefore, he is looking for an opportunity to talk about this at other levels, to comment on the policy of the United States, Ukraine and the global world. Looking for an opportunity to give advice that will be action advice.
Thirdly, we must explain to both Musk and Shotwell where such a position will lead. And it will lead to an increase in deaths among the civilian population, Ukrainian children and losses among our military.
The war is not an abstraction, it goes directly to the territory of Ukraine and for us to have the right to be as we want. Just like Elon Musk wants to be somebody. We have to explain it. It's hard, but it's communication. We should not speak in an ultimatum format, because it effectively helped us.
With people who help us, even if they make erroneous decisions at some stage, we must constantly talk. About values, our goals and the losses we bear, and why this is fair. And if Musk wants to be a global figure and have a certain political expertise, then say why he should be fair. These are dialogues not only with representatives of SpaceX, but also with representatives of other corporations.
Interview with Mikhail Podolyak: watch the video
International brands still finance the genocide of Ukrainians
If we are talking about international business, then there is an even more important topic. Unfortunately, many international companies and global brands still operate in the Russian market and pay taxes to the Russian budget, which finance the war. 80-85% of the Russian budget today is spent on war.
Thus, the Russians absolutely clearly use the taxes of international companies for the genocide of the Ukrainian population. And we need to constantly talk about this too – not only about Starlink.
Periodically talk about international companies and name the brands of these companies. Show the brand, the amount of taxes that he paid to Russia and what military equipment was bought with these taxes and how many civilians died in our country. In terms of what international brands produce. This is a very good opportunity to return to the concept of negativity of international brands that are still financing the Russian genocidal war.
We periodically do this, because at the very beginning they thought that the war would end today or tomorrow, and waited it out. Then they allegedly froze the business and left. After 12 months, we look, and some company continues to work, pretend that nothing happened, and say that they plan to close, but are still in the process.
If you are directly in the war, then emotionally perceive it correctly. Although, let's be frank, in our country there are also people who perceive the war as an opportunity to earn something for themselves in a “gray” way. We have a number of people in various positions who perceive the war as an opportunity to get a chance to significantly increase their fortune.
Unfortunately, this will discredit Ukraine and unbalance the moral situation in the country. This needs to be worked on. Fortunately, the president has actively supported and is moderating the campaign to decorrupize public relations in the country. I think that we will not get rid of internal corruption, but we will speak well and imprison these people so that they are responsible for their actions with long legal terms.
Besides,the situation in the world is more complex. People want to earn income and have a certain standard of living. They don't care that children die here. If they come to an event to support Ukraine, they will say that they have invested or sponsored thousands or millions of dollars in humanitarian programs to support Ukraine. But internally they are not empathetic towards us.
They do not care that our citizens are dying here, losing their homes or career opportunities, that we have 14 million forced temporary migrants. It doesn't bother them. It is important for them whether they will have an income that will be 15% more than last year. We must understand this and not be offended, because resentment is an emotion that will not allow us to think rationally.
And thinking rationally is calmly and systematically naming brands, the names of directors or business owners, talking about specific income in Russia and how much of this income went to taxes and how many people specifically are killed by the leaders of these international corporations.
This is how they should work. And in parallel, we must carry out many anti-corruption actions in Ukraine itself in order to prove that we are different, we are not the same as we were before the war. 30 – 40 vіdsotkіv – bruht” name=”Russia has a lot of radyansk equipment, but 30 – 40 vіdsotkіv – bruht”>Russia has a lot of Soviet technology, but 30–40% is scrap
The Prime Minister of Estonia said at the summit that if the country had fighter jets, it would give them to Ukraine. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the European Parliament, said that the threat to Europe today is dictators with insane stocks of Soviet weapons and “feeding” from other dictators, in particular Iran.
Iran said that it would not seem to be building factories with drones in Russia. One cannot believe this, because after these statements, a plane from Tehran flew to Russia – it is not known what brought, perhaps a new batch of drones.
And on the eve of social networks allegedly disseminated information from the general director of the Kalibr missile manufacturer, who complained that they could not fulfill the order of the Ministry of Defense due to a lack of components. They say that negotiations with suppliers of Russia's allied countries have been temporarily suspended. So what about Soviet weapons and Iranian support?
Let's say a huge thank you to the Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. After the victorious finale, we must hug them. From the point of view of informational and diplomatic pressure, these countries are key. They are constantly at the forefront, they say that everything must be given to Ukraine, and they do it.
Such countries go for broke, realizing that today the fate of Europe and those values for which they also suffered when the Soviet Union collapsed are being decided. They also had protest actions then, and the USSR killed a lot of people there. We should be very grateful to them and constantly keep in touch with these countries.
Regarding Soviet weapons, of course, the year of the war accurately set the accents and many countries that at the beginning of the invasion believed that it was possible through “gray” schemes that – to earn something, because there were bonuses for the supply of components through “parallel imports”, today they understand that there will be severe punishment for this.
After the war, or even today, states or companies that will be intermediaries for Russia will have huge problems because of the ministries of finance and ministries of justice of other countries. Therefore, they will not go for it, because if they earn $3 on a gray scheme, then they will lose $30 later. – oil or gas that goes through other states. So there will be much fewer weapons, especially sea-based ones – “Caliber” or “Iskander” than Russia planned.
Regarding the Soviet arsenals, unfortunately, there are still a lot of old missiles and armored vehicles in Russia. The Kremlin will use all this. However, not all weapons remain in good condition. 30–40% is already scrap. So when they say some numbers, for example, that there are 2 or 5 thousand tanks in Russia, this is not entirely true, the real numbers are different.
However, Russia will try to attract all this in order to create a quantitative advantage with the help of unprepared mobilized and old Soviet weapons.This will be the last stage when Russia will be able to accumulate a certain resource.
Today, an important stage of the war is the struggle for initiative. Now it is decided who will have the initiative in the next stages of the war. So far, the initiative is on the side of Ukraine, but we must get certain weapons.
And Russia will use Soviet weapons to the last. However, it is not highly accurate, efficient and promising. From the point of view of solving situational tasks, it loses to any sample of NATO weapons.
Russia formed an anti-democratic coalition, but they are not partners
< p> Concerning Iran – at some point Tehran staked on Russia. He gave her his drones, and received certain technologies and money from the Kremlin. Iran has long believed that this will not have significant consequences for it.
And today, Iran understands that the consequences will be catastrophic. We can already see that the countries that included Iran in the list of terrorist states with restrictive sanctions are watching Tehran meticulously, especially what it negotiates with Russia.
Iran has already transferred the manufacturing technology of “Shahids” to Russia, and certain production facilities are already being created there. However, we know how to counteract them. At the same time, Tehran is very cautious about continuing cooperation with the Kremlin, because the consequences for it have already begun and will continue to grow.
At the same time, Russia says that if Europe or the United States had not helped us, then allegedly “I would have brought Ukraine to its knees long ago.” Todaythe aggressor country has formed such an anti-democratic coalition, which includes:
- North Korea,
- Iran,
- countries Africa – Zimbabwe and Eritrea,
- Belarus.
Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin/Russian media photo
However Russia is not a strategic partner for these countries, because to support it today is to limit one's prospects. However, Moscow is hysterically looking for any opportunity to increase its military capabilities. And that's good, because everyone sees everything.
Now the key stage is when Russia pulled off all Soviet weapons from all of its territory. A little updated, but Soviet. High-precision and real, which they began to do since the 2000s, now there is no way to produce.
Final Prigogine will be bloody
Russia will conduct exercises together with China in Africa from 16 to 26 February. I wonder who will go to these exercises, is it Wagner PMC? In addition, Yevgeny Prigozhin recently announced that he was no longer recruiting prisoners from prisons to join the ranks of the Wagnerites. He did not name the reasons, but information appeared that the Russian Ministry of Defense was creating its own PMC inside the army and recruiting prisoners there.
The Russian Ministry of Defense is creating a private military company not within the army, but through “perimeter” – through “Gazprom” and commodity companies. They will have state jurisdiction. There will always be 60-70% of the state in the company, which will be financed by PMCs. And 30% is a private business – security or other company.
Prigozhin lost the apparatus game and the conflict to Sergei Shoigu and the classical generals. So the owner of the Wagner PMC is gradually being pushed aside from fundamental decisions. He lost control of the federal penitentiary system. And now the Ministry of Defense is working directly with her.
I don't think there are very many prisoners who are ready to go to die. After all, it is one thing to go through Wagner PMC, where you get certain privileges, money and guarantees. And another thing – the Ministry of Defense – they will simply send you and kill you without guarantees and money. And these are prisoners – they feel so keenly.
For Prigozhin, everything will be much bloodier a bit later. Because he has taken off very high and will not just lose influence. It was said that he was almost equal to Vladimir Putin in terms of commenting on the course of the “SVO” and influencing the patriotic community, the so-called “military correspondents” and a key media component. But now he is losing everything. The Ministry of Defense will put pressure on Prigozhin and we will talk about him in a different tone, but we'll wait.
Prigozhin is waiting for a bloody finale/Photo by AR
I like it very much, because it testifies to the instability of Putin's environment and, in general, the growing conflicts. This does not mean that there will be coups d'etat tomorrow, but the conflicts are growing and will have certain physical or legal consequences for key individuals.
Recently, Prigozhin recorded a video where he challenged President Zelensky to an air battle. It was necessary to hook God by the beard in such a way to imagine that you, as president, can challenge another president to an air duel. I really look forward to repeating the fate of Igor Mangushev on the example of Prigogine. It will be very nice, so we can wait.
But what we can't wait for is what Irina Vereshchuk was talking about. She said that we are starting to train personnel who will come to work after the de-occupation of Crimea.
Prigozhin is not a newsmaker for us, so it makes no sense to talk about his initiatives, words, etc. This is designed only for the domestic market – the patriotic market of Russia. Let them scratch themselves there, we don't care. How can we track the loss of influence of one or another character.
Ukraine is preparing to return Crimea
Now about the Crimea and the words of Vereshchuk. She is absolutely right – we need to prepare for the fact that this can be a fast and important process. So that we don’t start coming up with formulas along the way, how we should treat people in a legal and physical sense who seized other people’s property, appropriated businesses, apartments, etc.
We must be aware that all people, who were engaged, for example, in the humanitarian component, information – teachers, lawyers … All this should be different from a worldview point of view. Vereshchuk speaks about this.
Should be tough in the normal sense of the word and conscious that there should be no tolerance for collaboration, regardless of motives. There shouldn't be any half-hearted solutions. We are entering and there should be a specific concept of another informational and cultural space. No matter how it sounds.
I don't want us to flirt, as we did in 2004 after the Orange Revolution, they say, “let's be careful.” It was necessary to go in and immediately limit the informational influence of Russian TV channels, business and cultural programs.
It will have to be done now, without any talk that there are other moods there, that they should convince people … No, they should not convince.We must firmly show what Ukraine is, what its values and rules are. And the leaders of education or the media there should be exclusively pro-Ukrainian professionals.
This is an absolutely correct concept. Already today we should talk about it publicly so that we understand Crimea – there will be no half-hearted decisions, but there will be a specific correct Ukraineon the peninsula. These are very important parameters, and I want to support Vereshchuk. This is the right strategy.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that probably 5 Ukrainians are now under the rubble in Turkey, another woman was hospitalized. Found 103 Ukrainians and 22 are still looking. Remembering Turkey, I have already given this example – an example of the invincibility of Ukraine, which has been living in a full-scale invasion for a year, but is ready to help when it sees that someone needs it.
We can help, despite the fact that we ourselves are now in a state where we need the world's help. We are ready to share what we have ourselves to help you. This is an example of the invincibility of the Ukrainian spirit and people.
And at that very moment Putin comes out and says that he allegedly “sympathizes” with Turkey because of the trouble . And you think: how does he fit all this cynicism when destroying one country, its infrastructure and people, he can “sympathize” with another country because of a natural disaster?
Do you want Putin to be recorded as a representative of modern humanistic civilization? It's nonsense. This is a person who constantly lies and is cynical about what is happening in the world. He doesn't care at all what happened in Turkey.
This is an absolutely informational occasion to come and say something cynically. Therefore, let's take Putin out of the brackets of modern civilization and talk about him as a newsmaker who still gives us trouble that needs to be properly resolved.
As for Turkey, this is certainly a great tragedy. Tens of thousands of people dead and wounded. Great losses, both economic and humanistic.
Consequences of powerful earthquakes in Turkey: watch the video
However, we are Ukraine and we are sincerely ready to help – to give everything when other people suffer.This is the essence of Ukraine. This and what we say to our partners – look at us. Yes, maybe we have certain manifestations of discomfort or corruption, maybe we squabble among ourselves and this causes a certain surprise.
We have all this, but when a tragedy occurs, we make the only possible decision – support anyone. And in my own country. See how we have people who have lost their homes, careers, jobs, but they still support others, volunteer and take on the burden of war.
We also have a very great desire to help Turkey. Because these are people. And this is Ukraine. We will do this all the time. And the world sees it. Today, he understands much more deeply what modern Ukraine is and why this country needs to be helped to the end.
It's not just we talked here, they say, help us, because we defend democratic values. This is important and we are talking about it. But the world sees the actions of Ukraine. He sees how we feel about tragedy, how sincere we are in helping, and how we do it. And the world understands what a big heart we have.
When we quarrel, I give an example that we are like one big family. Do not quarrel in the family – quarrel. They may not understand each other, do not agree on points of view, but they understand that we are a family. In any case, we will find a consensus and continue to live in one big family and beyond.
That's why they will never understand us, because their families are strong different from us. There, a fur coat is dearer to Vanechka, who left and died somewhere in the neighboring territory and will never return even in a bag.
This Vanechka came to knock out her teeth, do you understand? And we have another – we live in other values. Help is a key element of Ukrainian identity.
Today we have scaled up, everyone can see what we are. This is already historical. And we will deal with all internal conflicts. This is in the family, so we will agree on some rules to treat each other a little more carefully and love each other more.
