The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, together with SpaceX, is already working to address the issue of Russian drones using Starlink satellite communications. Immediately after reports emerged of Russian drones with Starlink access being detected over Ukrainian cities, the Ministry’s team contacted SpaceX directly within hours, proposing specific measures to resolve the problem and block such usage.
The head of the Ministry of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov, stated this on his Facebook page. “I am grateful to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and to Elon Musk personally for their prompt response and for beginning work to resolve the situation,” he wrote.
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Elon Musk’s decision, at the very start of the full-scale invasion, to urgently activate the Starlink network and send the first batch of satellite terminals to Ukraine became one of the key factors that helped ensure the resilience of the state, communications, and defense. The Ministry of Defense emphasizes that Western technologies must continue to serve as tools for protecting the democratic world and civilian populations, rather than being used as instruments of terror or to destroy peaceful Ukrainian cities.
Initially, the terminals were spotted only on the “Molniya” UAV, the design of which was published by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) at the end of December. But by mid-January, the “fact of controlling the BM-35 UAV via Starlink” was recorded for the first time. This was reported by Serhiy “Fresh” Beskretnov, who added that the appearance of Shahed drones with Starlink control was only a matter of time – and a very short one at that. The problem is that UAVs using this type of control are largely immune to electronic warfare measures and strike their targets precisely under the operator’s command from Russia.
“We already have hundreds of confirmed cases of UAV attacks using Starlink, not on military targets, but on peaceful rear and front-line cities – including residential buildings. Essentially, this is terrorism using modern civilian communication technologies,” said Serhiy “Flash” Beskretnov, advisor to the Minister of Defense, in his Telegram channel today.
He added that recently a BM-35 equipped with Starlink attacked Kyiv, and prior to that a similar drone reached Dnipro. “Unlike the Molniya, this UAV is fuel-powered and can fly up to 500 km,” the defense ministry advisor noted.
Read also:
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Source: facebook
