Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications systems are being sold to Russia through third countries. Efforts are underway to neutralise this threat. This was stated by a representative of the Defence Ministry's Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, during a telethon, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
"Russia continues to work through so-called parallel imports, which is essentially smuggling. Yes, through third countries, we will not name specific countries, this information needs to be clarified, but Starlink is freely available on the territory of the Russian Federation, on open online platforms," he said.
Yusov noted that compared to last year, their use by Russians on the front line has become "more systematic and well-established".
"That is, the occupiers are relying on these devices. Of course, we are working to neutralise this threat. We will not disclose all the threats now. No one claims that Starlink is officially being sold to the Russians. But today, Russia is not only the number one terrorist country, but also the number one smuggler country, so this is a problem that is being worked on today," the intelligence service said.
Starlink terminals in the Russian army
- Recently, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine confirmed the use of Starlink systems by Russian troops at the front.
- SpaceX, the developer of the Starlink terminals, said that the company does not have any business with the Russian Federation or its military, as well as with the UAE. At the same time, the company said that it would deactivate the terminals that were obtained without the appropriate licence.
- SpaceX and X.com founder Elon Musk also said that his company did not sell Starlink terminals to Russia.
- Prior to that, SpaceX marked some of the temporarily occupied settlements in Ukraine as having access to Starlink satellite Internet coverage. Thus, on the map on the Starlink website, Syevyerodonetsk, Novoaydar, Starobilsk, Rubizhne and other settlements in Luhansk Region are marked as "waiting list". The free territory of Ukraine is also marked in the same way.
- In 2022, Elon Musk refused to switch on Starlink near Crimea at the request of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.