Russian troops have been using Starlink, which they received through third countries, on the occupied territory of Ukraine for several months.
Russia uses Starlink in Ukraine
Defense One writes that the Russian military appears to be using Starlink satellite communications manufactured by Elon Musk's SpaceX company in Ukraine.
This suggests that SpaceX, which was praised for helping the defenders, is now also helping the invaders.
Defense One cites one Ukrainian source as saying that Ukrainian forces first discovered Russia's use of Starlink several months ago.
A second Ukrainian source confirmed the use of Starlink and added that its use by Russians is increasing.
Right now, Russian forces appear to be using dozens of Starlink terminals along the long front line. When there are hundreds of them, it will be difficult for us to live, — said the first Ukrainian source.
How the Russians got Starlink
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Jurgensen said US officials are aware of the Russians' use of Starlink, but have referred questions to "our Ukrainian partners for any ongoing operational information regarding similar satellite communications activity."
In a February 8 tweet, SpaceX officials said the company “does not do any business with the Russian government or its military. Starlink does not work in Russia, that is, the service will not work in this country. SpaceX has never sold or sold Starlink in Russia, nor has it shipped equipment to Russia."
But the Russians, writes Defense One, can easily obtain Starlink from abroad through third parties.
SpaceX is able to prevent the use of Starlink devices in Russian-occupied territory. According to the biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, he rejected Ukraine's request to provide Starlink access in Russian-occupied Crimea.
However, Russian forces may be hiding their use of Starlink, according to Brian Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Russia could simply provide a false GPS signal to the Starlink terminal so that it thinks the user is in Ukrainian-controlled territory, — Clark said.
As a reminder, Starlink allows front-line military personnel to create high-bandwidth mobile communications networks for use in operations centers and to coordinate artillery strikes, among other tasks.
