‘Russian military not using Starlink’: Kremlin, Elon Musk reject Ukraine claims

The Kremlin on Monday denied Ukrainian claims that Russian troops fighting on the front lines were using Starlink internet terminals.

Kyiv’s GUR military intelligence agency said there was evidence that Russian forces were using the terminals “systematically” and accused Moscow of “smuggling” the terminals into the country.

Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is a network of low-Earth orbit satellites that can provide internet services to remote areas or areas where normal communications infrastructure is paralyzed.

“My company has probably done more to undermine Russia than anything,” Musk said during a live session on X, formerly Twitter, criticizing U.S. funding for Ukraine.

Musk insisted that SpaceX has taken away two-thirds of Russia’s space launch business and “Starlink has provided overwhelming help to Ukraine.”

“It cannot be officially supplied here and it is not officially supplied here,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

“Therefore, it cannot be used officially here in any way,” he added.

The system is not active in Russia, which means even devices within Russia cannot connect.

But Kiev accused Russian troops of using the device on the Ukrainian front.

“Starlink is free in Russia. Now Starlink’s use in Russia’s frontline armies has become more systematic compared to last year,” GUR spokesman Andrei Yusov said on state television on Monday.

He said he would not “disclose all the details” of his statement.

Ukraine itself also used Starlink extensively to ensure communications and connectivity for its forces during the two-year war.

Musk posted on his X social media platform that reports that SpaceX was selling Starlink terminals to Russia were “absolutely false.”

“To our knowledge, there have been no Starlink sales to Russia, directly or indirectly,” he added.

Ukraine’s Yusov said Kyiv acknowledged that Starlink was not “officially sold to Russia.”

Russia purchased them through “parallel imports, essentially smuggling,” he said.

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine and came under Western sanctions, it has established a network of traders and middlemen in third countries to obtain banned goods and other products that are no longer available in Russia.

This is not the first time Kiev and Musk have clashed over Starlink.

Last year, the Tesla and SpaceX tycoon rejected a request to activate a network in the Crimean city of Sevastopol to support a Ukrainian attack on a Russian naval fleet.

He said that if he agreed, SpaceX would “clearly engage in significant acts of war and escalation of conflict.”

Also last year, he said his company could not fund services in Ukraine indefinitely without agreeing to maintain ties.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – AFP)