Musk says steps to stop Russia from using Starlink seem to have worked

Feb 1 (Reuters) – Elon Musk said on Sunday that moves by his SpaceX company to stop the ‘unauthorized’ use by Russia of its internet system Starlink seemed to have worked, while Kyiv’s defence chief said officials were working on ways to prevent any future use by Moscow.

Kyiv’s military relies on tens of thousands of satellite-based Starlink internet connections for battlefield communication and for piloting some drone missions, but said this week it had found Starlink terminals on long-range drones used in Russian attacks.

Ukraine said it was working with SpaceX to stop Russia from guiding drones with Starlink.

“Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked. Let us know if more needs to be done,” SpaceX CEO Musk said on X.

In a separate statement on Sunday, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Kyiv was developing a system that would allow only authorised Starlink terminals to work on Ukrainian territory.

“Ukraine, together with @Starlink, has already taken the first steps that delivered rapid results in countering Russian drones,” he wrote on X.

“The next step is implementing a system that will allow only authorized terminals to operate on the territory of Ukraine.”

In a social media post in February 2024, SpaceX said it does not sell or ship Starlink to Russia, and “does not do business of any kind with the Russian Government or its military”.

Musk turned on Starlink service over Ukraine in 2022 after Kyiv pleaded for help in the first days following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi and Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)