Reference News, February 1st. According to Reuters on January 29th, the Ukrainian defense minister said on the 29th that Ukraine is cooperating with Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX to prevent Russia from using the company's Starlink system to control drones. Kyiv previously stated that Starlink terminals were found on long-range drones used in Russian attacks on Ukraine.

This week, a Ukrainian official posted photos of the wreckage of a Russian long-range drone on a social platform and pointed out that these drones used Starlink terminals. Russia may have used Musk's system to attack a passenger train in Ukraine on the 27th.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Telegram software that both sides have started cooperation to resolve the issue.

SpaceX has not responded to this matter. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Musk provided Starlink service within Ukraine at the request of Kyiv.

Another report from the Russian website "Komsomolskaya Pravda" on January 28th said that Starlink has become a "source of dispute" between the EU and the US. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski accused Elon Musk of enabling the Russian military to use the satellite communication system and demanded that the system be shut down within Ukraine. How is the Russian army using Starlink? Why are Kyiv and Washington powerless to change the situation?

The reason for Sikorski's accusation against Musk was that the American Institute for Strategic Studies reported that the Russian military is using the Starlink satellite communication system to control drones. The diplomat "warned" Musk: "Profiting from war crimes could severely damage your brand image."

Musk replied sharply to Sikorski, saying that the latter did not even understand that Starlink is the cornerstone of the Ukrainian army's communication system.

This is not the first time Musk has publicly clashed with the Polish foreign minister over the Starlink issue. In March 2025, the two had already argued about it. Musk once emphasized that if he "cut off Starlink, the frontline of the Ukrainian army would collapse."

Notably, the cost of Ukraine accessing the Starlink satellite internet is borne by Warsaw. Sikorski said that Poland spends 50 million dollars annually on this. As early as 2023, there were reports that the Russian military was also using the system. At that time, in a video released by volunteers, there appeared military boxes with the word "Starlink" on them.

Russian news website ComNews reported that these devices were transported from the UAE to Russia. The terminal equipment is registered under the name of a foreign company before entering Russia, and then activated with any name. Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov also confirmed the issue of the Russian military accessing the Starlink network.

Ukrainian military expert Yuri Knutov pointed out that as long as there is a user terminal, the Starlink service can be used, and the device can be purchased on multiple platforms. He said that the Russian military can use the Starlink network irregularly, which significantly enhances Moscow's reconnaissance capabilities.

Knutov said that because the system is highly resistant to interference, traditional electronic warfare systems can hardly suppress it, making Russian drones almost immune to being shot down. A representative event was that on January 26th, a reconnaissance drone circled above Kyiv for several hours. Military journalists pointed out that the drone was equipped with a Starlink terminal, so it was not affected by electronic warfare systems.

Knutov added that the reconnaissance level of drones equipped with Starlink terminals will further improve. He explained, "Starlink provides broadband internet access, so cameras can be installed on drones for surveillance and information can be transmitted back to the command center through repeaters. This means we can discover targets in real time and destroy them."

Russian military expert Boris Deryelievsky said that weapons used to strike targets also include attack drones equipped with Starlink terminals. He pointed out that in this case, the terminal's resistance to electronic warfare systems also benefits Russia, meaning these drones can become precision weapons.

Knutov believes that these capabilities of the Russian military have caused panic among Ukraine and its Polish partners. He pointed out, "They cannot interfere with Starlink, because it would also affect Ukraine's communication channels." He recalled that there had been cases where terminals failed before, which negatively affected the combat capability of the Ukrainian army.

Translation: Wang Dongdong, Han Ziling

Original: toutiao.com/article/7601785601532183082/

Statement: The views expressed in this article are those of the author.