SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says his company appears to have been successful in blocking Russia from making “unauthorized” use of Starlink internet systems in Ukraine on Sunday.
Starlink units have supported Ukrainian forces throughout the invasion, but Russian forces have also captured many of the units as a result. Musk’s company had been working to block Russian forces from utilizing the captured devices, and Ukrainian officials now say they are working to prevent Russian access long term.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Kyiv was developing a system that would allow only authorized Starlink terminals to work on Ukrainian territory.
“Ukraine, together with Starlink, has already taken the first steps that delivered rapid results in countering Russian drones,” he wrote on X.
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“The next step is implementing a system that will allow only authorized terminals to operate on the territory of Ukraine,” he added.
He confirmed reports that Ukraine had witnessed Russian drones operating over Ukrainian cities via Starlink connectivity. Officials immediately reached out to SpaceX for solutions, and Fedorov thanked Musk in a separate statement.
“Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked. Let us know if more needs to be done,” Musk replied on X.
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The Starlink battle comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that a new round of peace talks will take place this week. Representatives for Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. will be in attendance.
“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Zelenskyy said Thursday that key obstacles to a peace agreement remain unresolved, including the future of occupied Ukrainian territory and Moscow’s demands for land it has not captured.
“I do not believe that Russia wants to end the war. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary,” Zelenskyy said Thursday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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