Russian military adopts Starlink terminals for position use, procuring through third-party channels and fictitious individuals
Photo: defenseone.com
The Russians began using the Starlink terminals of Elon Musk's SpaceX company at their positions.
"Militarnyi" reported that.
As noted, the Russians receive Starlink terminals through "parallel import" or through so-called volunteer resellers. Purchases are made through third countries and fictitious persons.
SpaceX, which manufactures Starlink terminals, notes that the company does not conduct any business with the Russian Federation, its military, or the UAE. At the same time, the company said that it would deactivate the terminals that were obtained without the appropriate license.
"If SpaceX receives information that a sanctioned or unauthorized party is using the Starlink terminal, we will investigate the claim and take steps to deactivate the terminal if confirmed," the company said.
At the same time, the Militarny publication points out that on the Russian side, Starlink works only in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Furthermore, engineer Oleh Kutkov, who works with Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military, emphasized that within a 20-kilometer zone along the front line, it is technically impossible to determine which terminals can operate and which cannot. As a result, Russian occupiers on the front line can also use Starlink terminals.
"That is why either everyone or nobody works," Oleh Kutkov said.
According to Oleh Kutkov, all terminals in these front-line zones use one channel with a single scheduler from the satellite's side.
For reference:
In 2022, Ukraine asked SpaceX for help activating Starlink internet during the Russian invasion.
Since then, Ukrainian civilians, the government, and the military have used it for humanitarian and defensive efforts. However, Starlink is not available in Russian-occupied areas like Crimea, leading to criticism from Ukraine for hindering military operations.
