War in Ukraine: Russia uses Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites at the front, Kyiv reports

Is Elon Musk helping Russia on the Ukrainian front? In any case, this is exactly what Kyiv and its intelligence services believe, according to which Russian forces have begun using the Starlink satellite Internet access service of billionaire Elon Musk. Previously, this network was used only by Ukrainian troops. “Yes, there have been recorded cases of the use of these devices by Russian occupiers. This is starting to become systemic,” Andrey Yusov, press secretary of the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence, told the RBC-Ukraine newspaper on Saturday.

According to the UNIAN news agency, radio intercepts established that Russian units stationed in the Bakhmut region in eastern Ukraine “began massive use of Starlink at the front.” Starlink has a network of more than 2,000 small satellites in low orbit above the Earth that help provide Internet access. The ground terminals are then connected to routers, which allow Wi-Fi and therefore Internet access to be generated.

25,000 Starlink terminals deployed in Ukraine

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has supplied thousands of terminals providing Internet connectivity there. About 25,000 terminals are deployed in the country. This network is necessary for communications of the Ukrainian army and has not previously been used by Russian troops. According to Ukrainian military bloggers, Russia was able to purchase Starlink terminals through third countries. If the network is blocked in Russia, Russian troops in Ukraine could potentially gain access to it.

Ukraine and Elon Musk have a complicated relationship. Kyiv thanked him for hosting his satellites, but was later outraged when he suggested the country cede territory to achieve peace. The billionaire also claimed to have thwarted a Ukrainian attack on a Russian naval base in 2022 by rejecting Kyiv’s request to activate Starlink internet access in the Black Sea, near Moscow’s annexed Crimea.