Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, said that it does not sell the "Starlink" service to the Russian government or the Russian army (Anatolia Agency)
Ukrainian military intelligence said on Tuesday that Russian forces are buying stations for the “Starlink” Internet service in “Arab countries” for use on the battlefield.
SpaceX, affiliated with American billionaire Elon Musk, sent Starlink internet stations via satellite to help Ukraine after the start of the war with Russia in February 2022, and the company says it does not deal with the Russian government or the Russian army.
But Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces had increased their dependence on the service, and the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published what it said was an audio recording of two Russian soldiers discussing plans to buy “Starlink” Internet lines from Arab service providers for about 200,000 rubles ($2,200) each.
The ministry said via the Telegram application, “The aggressor state, Russia, buys communications equipment, including Internet lines via Starlink satellites, for use in the war from Arab countries.”
Yesterday, Andrei Yusov, spokesman for the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, confirmed that “cases had been recorded of the Russian occupation forces using these devices, and it appeared that they were using them on a regular basis.”
He pointed out that "military units use this service, such as the Russian 83rd Air Assault Brigade, which is fighting near the besieged cities of Klyshchevka and Andreyevka in the Donetsk region" in eastern Ukraine.
On the other hand, the Kremlin said that the stations are not certified for use in Russia and were not officially supplied with them, and therefore cannot be used.
Source: Reuters