Elon Musk’s satellite service
Russian army apparently uses Starlink in Ukraine
February 10, 2024, 5:32 p.m
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The Starlink system plays an important role in the Ukrainian army’s communications. According to reports, Russia’s military is now also using Elon Musk’s satellite service. The terminals are supposed to land in the war zone via a detour.
The Russian invasion troops in Ukraine are reportedly also using tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications system. Like, among other things, the US portal “Defense One” reports, citing Ukrainian sources in the military, that the first Starlink devices were discovered on the Russian side a few months ago. There is therefore a suspicion that they ended up in the war zone via an intermediary in Dubai. Moscow’s associations are currently said to have dozens of the terminals “If they have hundreds, it will be difficult for us to survive,” one of the Ukrainian sources told Defense One.
According to the magazine “Newsweek“Starlink devices are now offered via online shops in Russia and sold to volunteer organizations that support the Russian troops in the occupied territories in Ukraine. This is how mail order companies offer “imiele.ru” and “djirussia.ru“The terminals are available for 299,000 rubles, the equivalent of around 3,050 euros. In German stores, the satellite dish with router is available from 450 euros. US security expert Samuel Bendett reported on X already about Russian volunteers who had purchased Starlink devices for the military.
“Starlink is not active in Russia”
Starlink is operated by Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX. Based on the reports, the company said on X withthat they have no business relationships with the Russian government and the Russian military. “Starlink is not active in Russia, which means the service will not operate in that country. SpaceX has never sold or marketed Starlink in Russia, nor has it delivered equipment to locations in Russia.”
In addition, Starlink does not operate in Dubai either. No third-party providers or dealers have been authorized to sell Starlink in Dubai. “If SpaceX becomes aware that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorized party, we investigate the allegation and take action to disable the terminal,” the statement said.
According to “Defense One”, SpaceX is able to prevent the use of Starlink in the territories occupied by Russia. However, it is possible that Moscow’s military is concealing its use. Russian soldiers could simply “send a false GPS signal to the Starlink terminal, making it think the user is in Ukrainian-controlled territory,” security expert Bryan Clark, from the US think tank Hudson Institute, told the portal .
Musk criticizes aid to Ukraine
SpaceX may also be reluctant to strictly monitor the locations of the terminals, speculates Todd Humphreys, a professor at the University of Texas. As Ukraine occasionally pushes attacks against Russia’s formations, SpaceX “may fear that a mistake in defining the front line could leave Ukraine without Starlink coverage,” he told Defense One.
In Ukraine, Starlink is an important means of communication. The government in Kiev, the army, aid organizations and civilians rely on the system. The service is also used by the Ukrainian armed forces to control drones and correct artillery fire.
However, there have been repeated problems in the recent past. Ukrainian military officials complained about communication failures. In early 2023, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said that Starlink was taking steps to prevent Ukraine from using the system to control drones. As justification, she added that the network was “never intended to be used as a weapon.” Musk himself regularly criticizes the US government for giving Ukraine too much help. In October 2022, he formulated a peace plan on Twitter. His proposals showed strong similarities to the Kremlin’s demands.