Ukraine war: Starlink satellite internet in use “on all fronts”.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet is being used by Ukraine’s military on all fronts in the war against Russian forces. That’s what the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, said, according to a report by CNN. “They have proven themselves on the front lines and you can argue about whether the technology is good or bad, but facts are facts,” the US news channel quoted him as saying.

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Starlink plays a significant role in warfare, for a wide variety of systems. The technology would be used for drone control, for communication and, above all, for contact with units that are difficult to reach. At the same time, Budanov confirmed that Starlink did not work in Crimea “for a while.”

Sharp criticism from Ukraine

With these statements, another high-ranking Ukrainian representative has now commented on the role of Starlink in the defensive battle against Russia. A few days ago, another public debate arose about this after it became known that SpaceX boss Elon Musk himself had deactivated the satellite internet around the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. He is said to have prevented a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet out of fear of a Russian atomic bomb attack. A high-ranking adviser to the Ukrainian president sharply criticized this and pointed out that children and civilians were killed as a result. That is the price for “a cocktail of ignorance and big ego“.

Elon Musk subsequently partially confirmed the report, but also claimed that Starlink was not activated in the affected region. Instead, there was an emergency request to activate the service there and to Sevastopol (the home port of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea). He rejected that because SpaceX would have participated in a significant escalation of the war. Whether Starlink has previously worked in the area in question is also ruled Disagreement between journalists with contacts in the Ukrainian military. However, everyone seems to agree – including Elon Musk – that the billionaire had the technical opportunity to support an important attack by Ukraine and did not do so.

When Russia invaded the previously unoccupied territories in February 2022, Starlink was unavailable in Ukraine. But Elon Musk quickly arranged for activation and had numerous Starlink terminals sent to the country, for which there was much praise. Apparently he wasn’t aware of the consequences. He later told biographer Walter Isaacson: “Starlink was not intended for war use, people should use it to watch Netflix ‘and chill’, enable homeschooling and let people do good, peaceful things, no drone attacks.” The quotes suggest Musk was unaware of Starlink’s strategic importance for a very long time. A wealth of power like that of the billionaire is also unprecedented in the history of the United States.

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