SpaceX did not sell Starlink terminals to the Russians directly or indirectly. This was stated by the head of the company, Elon Musk. He called the reports fake. Earlier, the information about using this satellite communication in the frontline zone by the invaders was confirmed by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
Elon Musk says it’s not his fault
The situation with the use of Starlink terminals by Russians in the occupied territories continues to develop. On February 11, the head of the company, Elon Musk, commented on it on his X page (former Twitter). He denied any accusations of cooperation with the armed forces of the occupiers.
Musk stated bluntly that Starlink terminals have never been directly or indirectly supplied to Russia. And he called all the available reports about this absolutely false. He added that not a single unit got into Russia according to the most complete information he had. Representatives of the company also stated that they did not supply anything to Dubai and the Russians could not officially buy terminals there, as previously reported.
Why is everyone talking about Starlink among Russians
The topic of the occupiers’ troops using Starlink terminals near the line of direct contact surfaced last week. On February 9, this was reported by the online edition of Defense One, and subsequently this message was confirmed by the Ukrainian military. Subsequently, photos of the antennas appeared, which are located in Russian positions.
Finally, on February 11, information about the use of Starlink by the Russians was confirmed by the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. They told in detail that the terminals are delivered through Dubai in large batches, and the occupiers are connected from European accounts. At the same time, some Ukrainian military say that the aggressor country has been using such a scheme for a long time.
Now, in fact, SpaceX claims that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is lying. Or at least they have nothing to do with the situation. Because if there are any schemes there, they are so complex that Elon Musk cannot influence them in any way.
Confusing situation with Starlink
The situation with the use of Starlink in the Russian-Ukrainian war is extremely confusing. At the beginning of 2022, it was a completely new system, which in fact was still at the testing stage. No one in the world knew whether its functionality would justify the high cost.
Then there was the invasion and there was a need for high-speed Internet in Ukraine where no towers work. And Elon Musk personally ordered to turn on the system for Ukraine and began to supply terminals. They perfectly proved themselves and for a long time were considered one of the main trump cards of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
However, in the autumn of the same year, during the attack of Ukrainian naval drones on Sevastopol, it turned out that Musk simply turned off the possibility of connecting to Starlink for the peninsula. Allegedly, SpaceX heads believe that using their communications to control drones is too aggressive, they did not want this and do not want to be involved in the conflict with Russia at all.
At the same time, nothing is clear about what territories Starlink actually works in and where it should work. It is believed that it functions exactly on the territory of Ukraine. On the territory of Russia — definitely not. But what about the occupied territories, especially Crimea, which has been under the control of the occupiers since 2014?
Different people say completely different things about it. The Ukrainian military insists that it works in all occupied territories, including Crimea. Musk says that Starlink in Crimea is disabled and will remain so in the future.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that not only Russians use the scheme with the accounts officially registered in Europe. The equipment was bought by volunteers for many Ukrainian military and they are also officially European users. Therefore, it is still impossible to say whether Elon Musk is really unable to distinguish one from the other, or whether he simply does not want to selectively disconnect the occupiers.
According to twitter.com/elonmusk
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