The US Department of Defense announced that it has prevented Russia from using billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system.
Pentagon officials announced they had successfully prevented the Russian military from illegally using Starlink terminals on the battlefield during the war with Ukraine.
Mr. John Plumb, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, said Washington has worked closely with the Ukrainian government and Mr. Musk’s SpaceX company to block Russia from using Starlink equipment.
“At this point, we have successfully stopped Russia, but I am sure that Russia will continue to try to find ways to exploit Starlink and other commercial communications systems,” he added.
Pentagon officials refused to specify the tactics and methods to prevent Russia from using Starlink terminals. However, he assured that these are “good solutions” with the cooperation of Starlink and Ukraine.
In February, the Ukrainian military accused the Russian side of using Starlink terminals in combat. Later, the Defense Intelligence Agency of Ukraine (DIU) said that the scale of Russia’s use of Starlink in Ukraine is increasing and “is becoming systematic”.
Both Russia and billionaire Elon Musk later denied the information provided by DIU.
“Some fake news claims that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia. This is false. According to our information, no Starlink devices have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia,” Mr. Musk said. know.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 12: “This is not a system certified by us. Therefore, there is no way it can be officially provided and used in any form.” That’s why we should not intervene in the debate between the Kyiv government and businessman Elon Musk.”
Starlink is a satellite network project revolving around constellations of the SpaceX company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, providing Internet connections globally, especially serving people in the most remote places on Earth. not covered by traditional telecommunications infrastructure.
Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, SpaceX has provided more than 20,000 Starlink satellite internet connection devices to Ukraine. Starlink devices allowed Ukraine to remain connected even when mobile networks and the internet were destroyed due to fighting.
Russia once threatened to shoot down Starlink satellites because they were used to serve the Ukrainian army against Russia.
