Russian soldiers started massively purchasing the Starlink satellite internet system to use it in their war against Ukraine, according to numerous messages from the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian social activist and fundraiser Serhiy Sternenko confirmed the information on his Telegram channel, saying that the evidence of such use will be handed over to the highest level of command.
- As stated by the Ukrainian military personnel, Russians are probably buying the Starlink systems in the United Arab Emirates with already activated accounts and continue to use them on the occupied Ukrainian territories.
- The news comes as a surprise, due to Elon Musk repeatedly saying that Starlink is intended for peaceful use only. In 2022, Musk even deliberately shut down Starlink to thwart a Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol.
- According to the Starlink network coverage map, satellite Internet is not available in Russia, Belarus, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, China, North Korea, Syria, and parts of the occupied Ukrainian territory. Musk did not make any public statements that the systems will be launched in the Russian market.
- Furthermore, the Ukrainian military also started reporting much lower speed of the Internet from the Starlink systems not even close to the frontline. The problems have been observed for several months, and in the last week they have been particularly serious.
