Ukraine War: Russian armed forces to use Elon Musk's Starlink service

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According to Ukrainian forces, Russian troops use Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service (symbolic image)

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Madeleine Kelly / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

According to the government in Kiev, Russian troops in Ukraine are using US billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service. Ukrainian military intelligence published a recording of an intercepted conversation between Russian soldiers on Telegram, which is said to be evidence of this, as the Reuters news agency and the US magazine "Newsweek" report.

In the recording, troops from the 83rd Russian air assault brigade discuss the establishment of Starlink terminals in eastern Ukraine. Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said in Ukrainian media that Starlink use was "gradually taking on a systematic character." Details on the scope of the operation or how the terminals were allegedly obtained, whether they came from abroad or were presumably stolen from Ukrainian armed forces, are unclear.

The Starlink satellite internet service is operated by SpaceX. Tesla boss Musk's company said last week on X (formerly Twitter) that it "does not do any business with the Russian government or the Russian military." The service does not work in Russia and no devices have been delivered to locations in Russia. There is no statement yet from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Starlink satellite service includes a constantly growing network of around 4,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. More than every second active satellite in space now belongs to SpaceX's Starlink constellation. The system enables people to communicate with each other even in remote areas of the world.

Musk wanted to give Ukraine a “major advantage on the battlefield.”

SpaceX had used its Starlink satellites to provide Internet to Kiev in the first days of the Russian invasion. The billionaire said at the time that the satellite internet system would give Ukraine a "major advantage on the battlefield," according to Newsweek. In fact, Starlink systems were considered vital for frontline communications during the nearly two-year Russian invasion.

Around 42,000 Starlink terminals are said to be in use in Ukraine. "If there is actually a technical system in this conflict that can be described as a game changer, then it is definitely Starlink," Frank Sauer from the Metis Institute at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich recently told SPIEGEL.

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Tech billionaire Elon Musk

Photo: Sergei Gapon / AFP

It's not the self-propelled howitzer that makes the difference, not the Leopard, not the fighter plane - but the Internet from space. The man at the helm of SpaceX, Elon Musk, has a special position of power in world affairs (as is currently evident in the Middle East conflict) - while at the same time he is attracting attention with his political spiraling course. Read details here.

At the beginning of the war, Musk made the Starlink system available to the Ukrainians, but later threatened to cut off access. The Ukrainians were also not allowed to use the system for offensive operations. At times, Musk was assumed to be close to Russia. In the summer of 2023, the US Department of Defense took over the financing of Starlink access for Ukraine.

As the US magazine "Newsweek" currently reports, Starlink terminals are to be sold to Russian online shops via an intermediary in Dubai and delivered to the Russian military in Ukraine. The magazine quotes two

The X user is referring to the four regions of Ukraine that were illegally annexed by Russia in autumn 2022 - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. "Newsweek" refers to the Russian news channel ComNews, according to which the Starlink network does not work in Russia, but can be used in the four annexed regions and in Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014. There is no confirmation of the information. The company SpaceX had rejected corresponding reports on February 8th on X:

"When Russian stores claim to sell Starlink for service in this country, they are defrauding their customers," the company explains. »Starlink is not operated in Dubai either. Starlink cannot be purchased in Dubai, and SpaceX does not ship there either. In addition, Starlink has not authorized any third-party intermediaries, resellers or distributors of any kind to sell Starlink in Dubai.

"If SpaceX becomes aware," the company's statement said, "that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorized party, we will investigate the allegation and, if confirmed, take action to disable the terminal." .”

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