Ukraine, SpaceX Move to Stop Russian Use of Starlink Drones

Ukraine has confirmed it is working directly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to prevent Russia from using Starlink satellite internet terminals to guide drone attacks, after Ukrainian officials said they discovered Starlink equipment attached to wreckage from Russian drones.

The issue came into focus after images circulated online showing long-range Russian drones, including Shahed models, fitted with Starlink terminals.

Ukrainian officials said the technology may have been used to guide attacks deep inside Ukrainian territory, including strikes that hit civilian targets. Kyiv has described such incidents as acts of terrorism and warned that Western technology must not be exploited for military attacks on civilians.

Ukraine’s defence minister said the government was grateful to SpaceX leadership for responding quickly and beginning work on resolving the situation. He stressed that technologies developed in democratic countries should be used to protect civilians, not enable attacks on peaceful cities.

SpaceX has repeatedly denied selling or shipping Starlink systems to Russia or conducting any business with the Russian government or military. The company has said it does not authorise the use of its technology by Russian forces.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has relied heavily on tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and coordination, particularly because the system is resistant to electronic jamming.

That same resilience, Ukrainian officials say, makes the alleged misuse of Starlink by Russian forces difficult to counter using traditional electronic warfare methods.

Ukrainian advisers have warned that hundreds of cases involving Starlink-enabled drones may have occurred, arguing that the only viable solution lies in cooperation with SpaceX itself.