Russians attempt to activate Starlink terminals, Ukraine's defense adviser says
Ukrainians who assist the enemy will face punishment (photo: Getty Images)
Russian forces are looking for ways to activate Starlink terminals on the front lines, resorting to crude schemes, including paying someone to register the equipment through a government service center, according to Ukraine's defense adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov.
Read also: Elon Musk addresses Ukrainians on Starlink use
"The enemy is looking for ways to activate Starlink. They share their ideas in their groups, and then these posts circulate in ours. All of their ideas are primitive: send someone to a government service center for money, use a fake limited liability company, remove a Starlink terminal from a captured drone, and so on," Beskrestnov writes.
He urged Ukrainians not to worry, stressing that the Defense Ministry had anticipated such risks in advance and developed countermeasures. According to Beskrestnov, any Starlink terminals activated in this way will be blocked, while anyone who chooses to assist the enemy will face punishment.
"We will block all of these Starlink terminals — we know how. As for those tempted to make 'easy money' from the enemy, prison awaits them, and for a long time. This isn't setting a car on fire and running away. This is going to a government service center and effectively documenting your crime for a court. So my advice to traitors is simple: don't even try," the defense minister's adviser said.
Background
On January 23, reports emerged that Russian forces were increasingly using drones equipped with Starlink terminals to bypass Ukrainian air defenses.
Soon afterward, Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation announced the rollout of a so-called whitelist regime, developed jointly by the Defense Ministry and SpaceX.
Under the new security measures, Starlink terminals were switched to stationary mode and had their speeds limited while in motion.
Ukrainian military units urgently needed to verify the Starlink terminals they use for defense purposes to ensure continued operation after the restrictions were imposed.
Russian forces, meanwhile, began experiencing serious problems. Serhii Beskrestnov said command and control had been disrupted and that some assault operations had been partially halted.
Moreover, the Ukrainian partisan group Atesh recently confirmed a mass failure of Starlink among Russian troops. According to the group, military command was paralyzed, and in the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian units even opened fire on one another.
