Elon Musk has accused Ukraine of a targeted cyberattack against X (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In a revealing conversation with Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow, X CEO Elon Musk disclosed that the social media giant was besieged by a “massive cyberattack,” leaving users floundering to access their accounts. “We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources,” Musk stated in a post.
“Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …” User complaints about outages on the platform surged Monday at 10am and spiked again at 2pm, with over 40,000 reports of access issues logged by Downdetector.com.
By Monday evening, these figures had plummeted to just a few thousand. In his discussion with Kudlow, Musk hinted at Ukraine’s potential involvement in the onslaught.
“We’re not sure exactly what happened, but there was a massive cyberattack to try to bring down the X system, with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area,” he commented. The most severe service interruption, lasting over an hour, commenced at 4pm, predominantly affecting users along the U.S. coastlines, reports The Mirror US.
According to Downdetector.com, 56% of the reported problems pertained to the X app, while 33% were related to website issues.
Nicholas Reese, an adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York University’s School of Professional Studies, has expressed scepticism over Elon Musk’s claims about X. Speaking to The Associated Press, Reese stated that without access to technical data from X, it is impossible to definitively verify Musk’s assertions.
He also noted that the likelihood of such data being released is “pretty low,” Reese further questioned the idea that the attack could have originated from a state actor, given its short duration. He explained that there are two types of cyber attacks: those designed to be loud and those intended to be quiet.
In his view, this attack was meant to be discovered, which likely rules out state actors. Reese also suggested that if the attack was intended as a statement against X or Musk, it wasn’t very effective.
Elon Musk blames ‘massive cyberattack’ on Ukraine after X faces huge outages (Image: Fox Business)
He did not rule out the possibility of follow-on action. Musk has been in a public disagreement with Ukraine over the use of his Starlink satellite internet system, which has been crucial in the country’s fight against Russia.
On Sunday night, Musk posted on X, claiming that without Starlink, the Ukrainian front lines would “collapse.”
Elon Musk tweeted: “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose. Anyone who really cares, really thinks and really understands wants the meat grinder to stop. PEACE NOW! !”
Musk’s statement sparked a heated exchange, when Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski pointed out that Poland’s Digitization Ministry is one of the largest providers of Starlink to Ukraine, with Warsaw funding half of the 42,000 Starlink terminals operating in the country at a cost of about $50 million a year.
He wrote on X: “If SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” calling out the “ethics” of Musk’s “threatening the victim of aggression.”
Musk shot back: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Then, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio chimed in, saying Ukraine had not shown enough gratitude for Starlink. “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio said on X.
“And say thank you because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.
“Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk joined the heated exchange on Sunday. “True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even the smaller and weaker ones,” Tusk penned in a pointed message on X, without directly mentioning Musk.
The accusation against Ukraine, comes just one week after a tense meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky (Image: Getty Images)
Reports emerged last week that the European Commission is actively seeking ways to assist Ukraine in obtaining alternative satellite communication solutions in light of Musk’s threats. Media speculation suggests that Musk’s threats may be a tactical move to coerce Ukraine into a negotiation concerning the nation’s vital minerals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky touched down in Saudi Arabia on Monday, with plans to convene with a U.S. delegation on Tuesday to deliberate on ending the war, and discussions of a mineral agreement are anticipated.
This marks the first encounter between delegations from both nations since the infamous Oval Office meeting involving Zelensky and then-President Donald Trump, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance subjected Zelensky to a tirade after the European leader expressed doubts about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reliability in upholding any ceasefire.