of course he was afraid of russian nuukes. this only prompted Ukrainian engineers to bypass use of starlink entirely and current sea drones, like the one used in second Kerch bridge strike, or these used against SIG tanker and Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship use domestic technology only
Russian propagandists tell people what they want to hear. For longtermists like Muskovitj, it's fear of Global Thermonuclear War. For trads, it's Orthodox faith and subjugation of women. For fascists, it's implied antisemitism and general racism. For tankies, it's having a counterweight to American imperialism.
The stupid thing is that medium to long term, Musk would sell more Teslas and Starlinks to a free unoccupied Ukraine than a broke Russia under permanent sanctions. But I guess he finds the other arguments intriguing.
I don't think Musk is a man driven by what is in his self interest. He has some underlying pathology that drives him to be his own worst enemy. He's a lot like Trump in that regard.