Ukraine war
Starlink as a strategic tool: How Elon Musk’s satellites help attack Russian tanks
In Ukraine, people are already using Starlink to access the internet when other lines are dead. But the possibilities are more diverse.
© Lyashonok Nina/Ukrinform/ABACA/Picture Alliance
Whole truckloads with Starlink ground stations reached Ukraine weeks ago – Digital Minister Fedorov asked Elon Musk via Twitter. Meanwhile, the satellites play an important role in the fight against Russia.
The Ukrainian armed forces are steadfast: although the shelling of the Russian invaders continues incessantly, the army is fighting back with all means. This has recently included Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet, as the Telegraph reports. According to the daily newspaper, drone teams in rural areas in particular use the Internet connection from space.
A unit called Aerorozvidka (which stands for “air reconnaissance”), which uses drones to monitor and attack Russian tanks and positions, is likely to benefit the most. The teams that are on site to coordinate the multicopters use Starlink to access strategic databases and contact the control centers.
Once the Aerorozvidka has identified Russian targets, the soldiers pilot unmanned aerial vehicles with anti-tank munitions over them and drop the bombs. A Ukrainian soldier confirmed the effectiveness of the attacks to the London Times. He explains: “At night it’s impossible to see our drones. We specifically look for the most valuable truck in the convoy and then hit it right on target. We can do this very well and with very little collateral damage – even in the villages it’s possible .”
Russia is beside itself
Dmitri Olegowitsch Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, complained at the beginning of March that Starlink was an interference in the war by the western world. He told a Russian state media outlet: “While Russia is enforcing its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, Elon Musk is emerging with his Starlink, which was previously declared purely civilian. I warned about this, but our ‘muscophiles’ said – he is the light of world cosmonautics. Here, you see, he’s picked his side. I don’t even blame him personally. This is the West we should never trust.”
Musk barely responded, writing casually: “Ukraine’s civilian internet has been having strange outages – maybe due to bad weather? – so SpaceX is helping to fix it.”
In fact, apparently many people use the space Internet. Starlink is one of Ukraine’s most popular app downloads, according to the Telegraph, and around 100,000 people kept in touch with the outside world via the satellites. Musk: “Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still functioning in some parts of Ukraine.”
Starlink is not harmless
As the war progresses, the importance of Starlink could increase, because the constant bombardment of the Ukrainian infrastructure is visibly weakening conventional internet lines, so that alternative access to the internet is crucial for the civilian population and also the military.
But that’s not without its dangers: in the past, Russia had already located receiving stations for satellite connections and used the information to coordinate airstrikes and artillery. Elon Musk also warns of this. He advised users in Ukraine to turn on Starlink only when absolutely necessary and to keep the antennas as far away from people as possible.
Since the beginning of March, SpaceX, the company behind Starlink, has also been working, according to Musk in various tweets, to increase the security of the ground stations, protect them from jammers and reduce power consumption so that mobile use is easier – which in turn increases security the user cares.
source: telegraph, London Times, Twitter