Russians have Starlink

satellites Starlink Internet terminals are widely used by the Russian military It confirms the investigation conducted in Ukraine by the five authors of the article. It was stated that the terminals developed by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX were used to coordinate attacks and control drones and other military equipment.

Although Starlink does not officially operate on the territory of a terrorist country, the terminals fall into the hands of the Russian military through a complex network of black market dealers. WSJ tracked down some of these dealers who smuggled terminals into Russia and even saw shipments reach the front lines. The report shows that some terminals were originally purchased from eBay.

This is a black market for Starlink terminals It extends beyond the occupied territories of Ukraine and into Sudan. Many of these Sudanese dealers sell the devices to local Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group accused of atrocities including ethnically motivated killings, targeted harassment of human rights defenders, sexual violence, and the burning of entire communities. WSJ states that they received hundreds of terminals.

How did Elon Musk react to this?

In February, Elon Musk reacted to initial reports that Starlink terminals were being used by Russian forces in the war against Ukraine. “As far as we know, no Starlink has been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.”The billionaire wrote about X at the time. The Kremlin also denied these reports, according to Reuters. Despite these claims, the WSJ claims that: “Thousands of white devices the size of pizza boxes” “landed on some American enemies and groups accused of war crimes.”

Following the February announcements, House Democrats demanded Musk take action, saying Russia’s use of the technology potentially violated U.S. sanctions and export controls. Starlink actually has the ability to disable individual terminals and each element contains geo-pinning technologyWhile it is unclear whether black market sellers can bypass these barriers (e.g. by jailbreaking the software), it should prevent use in unauthorized countries.

Democrats in the House of Representatives demanded specific actions from Musk. This is quite real, since it had previously taken measures to limit Ukraine’s use of this technology on the grounds that the terminals were “never intended for use in military conflicts.” According to his biography, at the beginning of the full-scale war, Musk also prevented Ukraine from using the Starlink system near Crimea, thwarting attempts to attack the Russian navy.

Mykhailo Podolyak in September 2023 wrote to xIt is stated that civilians and children died as a result of Musk’s decision. “This is the price of the cocktail of ignorance and big ego,” he wrote, criticizing the billionaire.

However, Musk denied everything. According to him, the Starlink system was never active in the Crimea region, so there was nothing to disable. He also stated that such a policy decision was taken before Ukraine’s planned attacks on the invading navy.

SpaceX has not yet commented on the WSJ’s report on the distribution of Starlink terminals on the black market.