Russian troops in Ukraine are using thousands of Starlink satellite communications terminals made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Kirilo Budanov said Russian troops have been communicating via the Starlink system “for quite some time” and acquired the terminals from private Russian companies that bought them from middlemen, who deliver the equipment to Russia through neighboring countries, including the former Soviet republics.
Budanov’s agency already told Reuters last Monday that Russian troops were communicating via Starlink on their front lines, but did not reveal the extent to which the terminals were in use.
Ukraine relies heavily on Starlink and last year said that around 42,000 terminals were used by the military, hospitals, businesses and aid organizations, and that the Pentagon helped fund access for Ukrainian forces.
The Russian embassy and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Starlink has said it does not do any business in or with Russia. The company did not respond to an email earlier this week asking if it could categorically rule out use of the system by Russian troops in Ukraine.
Retired British Army Brigadier Ben Barry told Reuters that if Russian forces use Starlink, their communications would be more secure and harder for Ukraine and its allies to decipher.
