Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian war

In February 2022, SpaceX activated their Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, to replace internet and communication networks degraded or destroyed during the war. Starlink provides critical service to Ukrainian civilians, government and military. It has aided humanitarian relief as well as defense and counterattacks on Russian positions. Initially, SpaceX provided and funded Starlink services to Ukraine without charge. As of June 2023 Starlink expenses for Ukraine were covered by the US Department of Defense. As of December 2023, Poland was the largest contributor of terminals. SpaceX did not extend Starlink availability to Russian-occupied areas such as Crimea. In 2022, Elon Musk denied a Ukrainian request to extend Starlink's coverage up to Russian-occupied Crimea during a counterattack on a Crimean port; providing service would have violated US sanctions. Media reports erroneously characterized it as Musk "turning off" Starlink coverage in Crimea. In late 2022, SpaceX announced Starshield, a program designed for government customers. The use of Starlink to attack Russian targets was criticized by Russian officials. Russia's military repeatedly tried to disrupt Starlink services. Reportedly, the Russian military at one point obtained Starlink terminals through other countries. This unauthorized Starlink use was eventually blocked. In February 2026, Starlink eliminated service to all terminals in Ukraine not on a whitelist, in order to prevent Russia's fraudulent Starlink use. This significantly disrupted Russian military communications, which had come to rely on Starlink.

Background Starlink is a branch of American aerospace company SpaceX. They operate a large satellite Internet constellation in low-earth orbit consisting of thousands of satellites. Starlink satellites have been launched regularly since 2019. SpaceX had been negotiating to activate Starlink service in Ukraine a month and a half before the invasion, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said. According to her, SpaceX was waiting for formal approval when the invasion started. 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. On February 24, an hour before the Russian invasion, cyberattacks outed the satellite Internet company Viasat that provided communications to Ukraine. In order to defend themselves and to maintain Internet connectivity during the war, Ukrainians tried various techniques such as using commercial radios – but they could be eavesdropped upon. Eventually, Ukrainian officials deemed Starlink a potential solution. Unlike conventional satellite internet like Viasat, Starlink internet access works in a network fragmented into individual parts. Because Starlink uses the narrow beam of the Ku and Ka bands, the Starlink antennas are physically small. Any signal that intends to jam Starlink needs a precise aim into the antenna. This requires the attacker to get close to Ukrainian troops, in visual range of the terminals. The data carried over the network is also encrypted, with software in the terminal programmed to block off signals without the encryption. If the Starlink antenna steers itself towards another Starlink satellite in view, it could point away from the jamming source. These properties prevent Starlink from being taken out by a single Russian attack. On February 26, the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov asked Elon Musk on Twitter to provide Starlink assistance to Ukraine. Musk agreed, and SpaceX responded by activating country-wide service, with the first shipment of Starlink terminals arriving two days later on February 28. SpaceX leadership considered Fedorov's request to be approval of their own prior requests made before the start of the war. Those Ukrainians involved in bringing Starlink to their country "originally overlooked the significance of [Elon Musk's] personal control" over vital communications.

Civilian use

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.