Service Military intelligence of Ukraine HUR denounced this Sunday that the troops of Russia are using the satellite network starlink, the billionaire’s internet provider Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX He already assured that he was not doing any type of business with Moscow, and that he provides connection in remote places.
Ukrainian intelligence announced that intercepted conversations that showed that Russian forces in Ukraine were now also using the platform from Musk to connect.
The service starlink, which uses satellites to provide internet access to remote locations where telephone signal is not available, had until recently been an exclusive military advantage for Ukrainian forcesreported the Europa Press news agency.
Ukraine denounced that Russia also uses Starlink
“The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirms the use of Starlink satellite communication systems by Russian occupiers on the front”he assured in his Telegram account.
Specifically, a radio intercept of the Russians’ conversation showed that These terminals are being used by the Russian 83rd Assault Brigade in the Donetsk region, near Klishchiivka and Avdiivka.
The HUR even published an audio file, which supposedly came from the Russian side of the front line, in which a male voice can be heard speaking in Russian saying “Starlink works, there is internet”.
Musk’s company, SpaceX, assured in X that “has never sold or marketed Starlink in Russia, nor shipped equipment to locations in Russia.” Likewise, he indicated that would investigate cases in which Starlink terminals are used without permission and that it would close the terminal if necessary.
Musk himself described the complaint as “false.” “Several fake news stories claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia. This is categorically false. As far as we know, no Starlink has been sold directly or indirectly to Russia,” he said.
The satellite service Musk uses thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbits to transmit internet services. The system was praised as an important tool in Ukraine’s ability to fight Russian forces.
Tension between Musk and Ukraine over the use of Starlink
However, the relationships between Musk and the ukrainian authorities They cooled down during the course of the war in Ukraine, which broke out on February 24, 2022 after the Russian invasion.
According to reports in September 2023, that year, Musk ordered his engineers to secretly disable Starlink satellite communications near the coast of Crimea occupied by Russiasupposedly for sabotage a stroke vital naval ship completely disabling Ukrainian water drones en route to the port of Sevastopol.
According to Musk, his decision was motivated by a “deep fear” that the attack would increase tensions and Russia would retaliate with nuclear weapons.
However, for the kyiv Government, Musk committed treason.
Ukraine pointed out that the aborted attack by starlink It allowed Russian ships to survive, later launching missiles against Ukrainian populations.
Source: Ambito
