Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence claims it has confirmed the use of Starlink satellite communications by Russian forces in occupied areas.
It says it has intercepted conversations which indicate the Starlink terminals are being used to provide internet access to Russia’s 83rd Air Assault Brigade operating in the Donetsk region.
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Ukraine’s claim follows revelations about the satellite system’s use in the war made in a biography of Starlink’s owner Elon Musk, written by Walter Isaacson.
According to an excerpt from the book, Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his company’s Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet.
Are you saying he doesn’t have sources?
His source is Musk, who also gets money from selling the book where this quote originates. He’s also an idiot.
The fact is though that Starlink was never premitted to operate in Crimea or any territory under Russia’s control before the 2022 invasion. Occupied parts of Ukraine (excluding Crimea, which is also really an occupied territory) are something of a grey area, and it’s possible that Russians have subverted checks that SpaceX had to prevent Russia from using the technology, but Crimea was always a clear cut dead zone for the service.
They couldn’t really “turn it back on” as it was never on there to begin with. The submarines simply left the operational zone of the service, they weren’t switched off.
And your source is?
The US sanctions that say US businesses cannot operate in Crimea.
Yes, but for every sanction, there are licenses that cover exceptions