© Mil.gov.ua/Wikimedia Commons
A soldier from the Support Forces of Ukraine installs a Starlink terminal.
Extraordinary news
Get the big news as it happens – straight to your email.
Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR MOU) confirmed on Sunday that Russian forces used the terminals of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet service on the battlefield. As proof of this, GUR published an intercepted conversation between two Russian soldiers.
“The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirms the use of Starlink satellite communication systems by the Russian occupiers at the front. Radio interception of the invaders’ conversation shows that Starlink terminals have been installed to establish Internet access, for example, in units of 83 -th separate amphibious assault brigade of the Russian Federation,” said the statement of the GUR, published on the official profile of the intelligence in “Telegram”.
The occupation troops of the amphibious assault brigade in question operate in the Donetsk region, near Klishchiivka and Andriivka.
In a comment for RBC-Ukraine, the representative of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Yusov points out that the scale of use of “Starlink” by the Russian occupiers in the war is increasing and “starting to acquire a systemic character”.
On February 8, the American publication “Newsweek” reported that, according to Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, the Russian military began using “Starlink” with licensed accounts in Ukraine. Tsaplienko posted on his Telegram channel a screenshot of two X posts (also owned by Musk) that he said were from two Ukrainian soldiers.
“[Руснаците] began to deliver Starlink en masse, through Dubai, the accounts are activated and working in the occupied territories,” wrote one of the soldiers in his profile on “X”. He was talking about the four regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, annexed illegal from Russia on September 30, 2022.
According to the other account (@cpt_mitchell), Ukrainian soldiers “can now see their Starlinks,” adding: “Honestly, I thought they would sooner.”
Russian news outlets are also reporting that Elon Musk’s satellite communications systems are now being sold through multiple Russian online stores, delivered through an intermediary in Dubai, Newsweek said. According to local media, the systems are being sold to Russian volunteer units for use in the annexed regions of Ukraine.
Although the Starlink network does not work in Russia, it can now be used in the four annexed regions and in Crimea, Russian news bulletin ComNews reported. Traders do not hide the fact that the Starlink systems are addressed to participants [на войната] and are being bought from them in large quantities, the ComNews post said.
The publication cited a source in the satellite communications market familiar with the situation who said Dubai was the place to buy the wholesale equipment. According to him, before being imported into Russia, the terminals are registered with various foreign companies (a large part of them Cypriot), after which an account is activated under an arbitrary, often fictitious name.
If this rumour is true, supplying Starlink via intermediary in Dubai should be considered a breach of sanctions against Russia.
This also raises the question if Starlink is available for the Russians in the front? https://t.co/Bqfhg3Sl2D
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) February 8, 2024
“If this rumor is true, the delivery of Starlink via an intermediary in Dubai should be considered a violation of sanctions against Russia. It also raises the question of whether Starlink is available to the Russians on the front line,” notes the Finnish researcher at the University of Tampere ” Pekka Kalionemi in a publication in “X”, quoted by “Newsweek”.
Today’s confirmation by the Military Intelligence of Ukraine of the use of the terminals by the Russians in Donetsk does not address the question of the origin of the systems.
#Ukraines #military #intelligence #Russians #Starlink #updated