Ukraine is cooperating with the American satellite company SpaceX to address the issue of Russian drones using a satellite internet system, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday, following recent reports that Starlink devices had been found on Russian long-range unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine.
The statement came after an adviser to the Ministry of Defence expressed concern that Russia was using Starlink terminals, which are largely resistant to traditional signal jamming, to manually control drones targeting Ukrainian positions.
“We are grateful to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and to Elon Musk personally for their swift response and for beginning work on resolving the situation,” Fedorov wrote in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
Serhii Beskrestnov, recently appointed as Fedorov’s adviser, had earlier posted several photos on social media showing the remains of Russian long-range drones, including Shahed drones, with Starlink devices attached, N1 Info reported.
On Thursday, Beskrestnov said there had been “hundreds” of cases in which Russian drones equipped with Starlink had attacked Ukrainian targets.
Ukraine uses tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and for controlling drones. They are valued for their stable connection on the battlefield and their resistance to enemy signal interference.
SpaceX activated Starlink service over Ukraine in 2022 after Kyiv requested assistance in the early days of the Russian invasion. Starlink does not provide services in Russia.
Foto: Wikipedia