Reporter Asks Elon Musk If His ‘Ego and Ignorance’ Have Gotten Ukrainians Killed

Elon Musk received a bevy of tough questions from Sky News’s U.S. correspondent James Matthews on Wednesday as he left a meeting of the Federal Aviation Authority in Washington D.C.

“Has your ignorance and ego cost Ukrainian lives, sir? A Ukrainian official says that you have enabled Vladimir Putin as an aggressor. What do you say to that?” Matthews asked Musk as he walked to his car.

Musk appeared unfazed and ignored the questions. Matthews continued, asking:

Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin calls you outstanding, Mr. Musk. Do you appreciate that? What would you call Vladimir Putin? Has your ego and ignorance, sir, cost Ukrainian lives? A senior war official says it has.

U.S. officials estimated in mid-August that half a million Russians and Ukrainians had been killed or injured as a result of Russia’s invasion. Musk earned praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin this week after an excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk revealed that the billionaire refused a Ukrainian request to use his Starlink satellite system in an attack on Russian-occupied Crimea.

“As far as private business and Elon Musk is concerned… he is undoubtedly an outstanding person. This must be recognized, and I think it is recognized all over the world,” Putin said on Tuesday. “He is an active and talented businessman and he is succeeding a lot, including with the support of the American state.”

In October 2022, Musk also sparked controversy and accusations of links to Putin when he offered his own peace plan for the war in Ukraine, which included major concessions to Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Musk’s plan at the time saying, “Compared to many professional diplomats, Musk is still searching for ways to achieve peace. And achieving peace without fulfilling Russia’s conditions is absolutely impossible.”

Musk’s proposal included recognizing the Russian annexation of Crimea and allowing for a vote to be held in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to see whether or not those areas should join Russia.

Watch the full clip above via Sky News.