Elon Musk says Volodymyr Zelensky should 'go'

Elon Musk called on Wednesday for Volodymyr Zelensky to “go” as Ukraine’s president, escalating a dispute over satellite communications and US support for Kyiv.

“And so the slaughter continues,” Musk wrote on X. “Time for Zelensky to go.”

The comments followed Ukrainian accusations that the United States had helped Russia by failing to warn Kyiv of incoming missile strikes and by limiting Ukraine’s military response through changes to Musk’s satellite system.

Zelensky had called on Musk to restore Starlink, the satellite system designed by Musk’s SpaceX company, which Kyiv says has been slowed down. Musk said any disruption was the responsibility of the US government.

Musk drew a distinction between Starshield, which Ukraine relies on for battlefield communications and which he said is controlled by the US government, and the civilian Starlink system, which he said Ukraine also uses but is not allowed to deploy for offensive operations.

The dispute comes after Zelensky said he felt “betrayed” when asked about US President Donald Trump’s diesel-supply deal with heavily sanctioned Moscow. A senior official in Kyiv also said the United States had recently threatened to stop providing intelligence on Russian missile launches that Ukraine uses to counter attacks. Trump denied that claim.

Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for pressure on supplies and higher fuel prices before next month’s midterm elections.