Since 2023, much data has emerged about the use of Starlink Internet by Russian occupation forces along the front line. This creates certain problems for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov said that he discussed this issue with SpaceX founder Elon Musk even before it became a public issue.
«We looked and analyzed a case that happened in Israel, when the escalation of the conflict in Gaza began. How did they get out of this situation? We found an appropriate algorithm, proposed it to SpaceX, and now we have clear communication on how to make sure that cases like this don’t happen,” Fedorov said.
He added that SpaceX has the ability to disable Starlink terminals in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, “but this would also be catastrophic for us.”
«We need Starlink to work there because certain technologies are used that are also important to us. They are connected to drones. There is another way to make our Starlinks work, but the Starlinks, which essentially appear there in a different way, do not work. And now we are working with SpaceX»,” the minister emphasized.
At the same time, Fedorov does not believe in the existence of a connection between the fact that Starlink terminals appeared in the Russian army and the way Elon Musk is now commenting on the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Business English for HR course. Provide English for HR managers and recruiters. Get to know the course
«It was logical that they would start purchasing and importing them through third countries. They had Starlink, they were already imported, it’s just that now it has become public, there are a little more of them. That is, one of their entrepreneurs, probably, began to monetize it, and it took on some kind of separate life. Technologically, it is necessary to exclude Starlink, which they use, and make sure that ours continue to work»,” added Fedorov.