According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Russian military uses the Starlink satellite Internet system during combat operations in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate, said the Russian military had begun to use Starlink terminals “systematically”.
As evidence, Ukrainian intelligence released radio intercepts of conversations between Russian military personnel. The exchange revealed that the Starlink terminal was being used by members of Russia’s 83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade, which is fighting near Kryschyvka and Andriivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Earlier, Defense One reported that Russian military personnel are using Starlink on the front lines. Ukrainian sources told journalists that the Russian military first began using Starlink services for communications several months ago. The publication Astra published a screenshot of a sales advertisement for Starlink devices. special military operations” Starlink terminals with activated accounts are believed to be shipped in bulk to Russia via Dubai.
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, which provides Starlink satellite internet, said The company said it does not do business with the Russian government or military and that Starlink services are not available in Russia. The company also noted that it does not have any operations in Dubai.
When the Russian invasion began in earnest, SpaceX deployed its Starlink network in Ukraine, providing thousands of satellite Internet terminals to local governments either as donations or at the expense of the U.S. government and volunteers.
In 2022, the SpaceX founder will disable a Starlink satellite near the Russian-annexed coast of Crimea to prevent an attack on the Russian Navy by Ukrainian forces, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Mr. Musk. It is said that he secretly instructed employees to do so.Mr. Musk himself said Starlink said it had no operations in Crimea and rejected the Ukrainian military’s request to activate the system because it would be “clearly complicit in serious acts of war and escalation of conflict.”
In February 2023, SpaceX banned the Ukrainian military from using Starlink for offensive purposes, including operating drones. In July of the same year, the New York Times, citing people “with knowledge of the situation,” wrote that SpaceX was restricting satellite operations in combat zones.
