Starlink in the Russian-Ukrainian War
[17] In 2022, Elon Musk denied a Ukrainian request to extend Starlink's coverage up to Crimea during an attack on a Crimean port; doing so would have violated US sanctions on Russia.
[31] In February 2022, in the early days of the Russian invasion and amidst the Battle of Kyiv, Russia was conducting conventional offensives and cyberattacks against Ukraine's communication infrastructure.
[31] Those Ukrainians involved in bringing Starlink to their country "originally overlooked the significance of [Elon Musk's] personal control" over vital communications.
[27] Starlink activated their service in Ukraine in February 2022 two days after it was requested to do so[38] waiving the usual monthly subscription fee for the country.
[3] Civilians in war-torn areas could gather in "points of invincibility", where they had access to internet provided by Starlink terminals, among a set of basic amenities such as water, electricity, heating and light.
[6] Minister Fedorov remarked in 2023 that Starlink had saved lives by keeping the energy infrastructure running for doctors performing surgeries.
[14] By June, Starlink had helped restore mobile communication in the Kyiv Oblast[45] and had been used to report on the worsening conditions inside the city in the siege of Mariupol.
[56] The same month, two helicopters of Operation Air Corridor carried Ukrainian Special Forces fighters, weaponry and the first Starlink terminal behind enemies lines to besieged Mariupol.
[58] In April and May 2022, Starlink had key telecommunications role in the Siege of Azovstal, helping Ukrainian defenders to resist Russian troops in Mariupol.
[52] By December 2022, Ukraine had secured additional funding for Starlink from several European countries, and a Ukrainian official stated that "all financial issues have been resolved.
[52] In February 2023, Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov called Musk "one of the biggest private donors of [Ukraine's] future victory," estimating SpaceX's contributions at the time as over $100 million.
[69][70] In July 2022, Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi directly requested to Elon Musk 6,200 more Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military and intelligence services and 500 per month going forward to offset the losses.
[77] This law allows the government to give orders to private companies for national defense, and take action to restrict hoarding of needed supplies.
[74] According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Shotwell was livid at Musk's reversal, asserting "The Pentagon had a $145 million check ready to hand to me, literally.
"[22] Musk then added "Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.
[22] He has openly declared that Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars, citing peaceful activities like entertainment or online school instead of drone strikes.
[58] Shotwell has stated that "Ukrainians have leveraged [Starlink] in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement", as the free service was intended for humanitarian and defense purposes such as "providing broadband internet to hospitals, banks and families affected by Russia's invasion".
[90][27][91] Ukrainian and American officials said this caused units to become isolated, commanders risking themselves to get in radio range of the front lines, higher operational costs and loss of lives.
[92] In September 2022, a Ukrainian unmanned surface vehicle (USV) with a Starlink terminal attached to its stern washed up in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
[93] In September 2022, Ukrainian drone boats strapped with explosives were attempting a sneak attack the Russian fleet in Sevastopol using Starlink to guide them to target.
[103][104] The Washington Post, which had published Isaacson's opinion piece, corrected that "after the publication of this adaptation, the author learned that his book mischaracterized the attempted attack by Ukrainian drones on the Russian fleet in Crimea.
[106][99] Biographer Isaacson's mistaken claim[101] prompted the Senate Armed Services Committee to probe the situation as a national security matter, raising concerns over Musk's influence over the war as a private citizen.
[109] Ukrainian presidential adviser Podolyak responded that civilians and children were being killed as a result, adding that this was "the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego".
[116] The Atlantic claimed that a week later another Ukrainian attack using a different communications system did hit their targets in the port of Sevastopol, causing deterrence from the Russian Navy without escalation.
[113] Anne Applebaum wrote in The Atlantic that Musk's influence had been played by Russian disinformation, the latter having already been used in the Invasion of Ukraine as part of Russia's information war.
[96][120] According to a space industry consultant, the controversy over Musk's decision to restrict Ukrainian forces’ access to Starlink in the disputed territory of Crimea appeared to underlie how the DoD wrote the contract with SpaceX's Starshield military satellite constellation, even though the details are largely unknown.
[34][10] In early May 2022, the Russian head of Roscosmos and politician Dmitry Rogozin said Elon Musk will be held responsible "as an adult" for having provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Starlink satellites.
[25][41] On 18 January 2023, the Russian group "Co-ordinational Centre for the assistance of Novorossiya" posted photos of a captured Ukrainian reconnaissance drone.
[128][129] In August 2023, during Ukraine's counteroffensive, a Five Eyes report found that Russian hackers planted malwares designed to steal data to Starlink from the Android tablets of Ukrainian soldiers.
[139] In Russia, private sellers trade Starlink terminals operating only near the Ukrainian border, and personal user accounts to the network are connected through Poland.
