Starlink in the russian Army: Does It Really Work and How It Can be Disabled
Unofficial sources assume that the russian invasion forces have acquired satellite Internet connection via Starlink terminals from SpaceX. The antennas are allegedly procured through the UAE.
Experts, though, note that before jumping to conclusions, they should wait for information from officials. In particular, electronic warfare and communication specialist Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov only mentioned he “doesn’t rule out this possibility,” and suggested that intelligence services should dig into the matter first.
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In general, Starlink indeed can work on some of the occupied territories of Ukraine, based on the service coverage map on the SpaceX website. Particularly, some of the occupied land in the eastern regions and most of the south are online.
These territories were under the control of the Ukrainian government as of February 23rd, 2022, before the beginning of the russian full-scale invasion.
That said, the Starlink terminals which were legally bought in a third country can be operational in the mentioned territories, even for the russians. On the other hand, the issue here is not purely technical because, as evidenced by the events of the past, the connection can be manually tampered with.
For instance, the episode from 2022 when a Ukrainian naval drone attack was undermined by SpaceX’s shutting down the service near Crimea has long become public and explained by the company chairman Elon Musk so as not to drag the United States into the war.
However, after receiving criticism from U.S. senators, particularly by Elizabeth Warren who publicly said that American foreign policy should be “conducted by the government and not by one billionaire,” the situation was solved the following way: the U.S. Department of Defense started procuring Starlink terminals for Ukraine, with a guarantee that the devices would work where they need to, and announced a contract signed in 2023 without providing additional details.
After all, SpaceX is capable of tracking the location of each terminal, as the drone episode confirmed. Considering that the Pentagon had taken charge of the Starlink issue in Ukraine, the dilemma of the assumed antennas at the disposal of the russian invasion army could be fixed by disabling them on the currently occupied territories.
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