US billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX began delivering Starlink terminals to Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022, giving Kyiv a crucial advantage on the battlefield.
Although SpaceX did not sell equipment directly to Russia, Russian soldiers in Ukraine continued to obtain Starlink terminals through opaque supply chains and intermediaries, according to The Washington Post on October 12.
Ukrainian soldiers use a Starlink terminal during an exercise in Chernihiv province (Ukraine) in June 2023.
Photo: Screenshot msn.com
The surge in Starlink terminals used by Russian frontline troops has contributed to Moscow’s recent successes on the battlefield, including its recent capture of the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, according to several Ukrainian soldiers and officers who spoke to The Washington Post .
“They just overwhelmed us,” an officer from the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, one of the units guarding Vuhledar, admitted to The Washington Post . The officer also said that Russia’s access to Starlink was a major factor in the loss of Vuhledar, along with a shortage of weapons and personnel.
What does controlling the town of Vuhledar mean for Russia?
A drone platoon commander of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade said that Ukraine's Starlink terminals previously gave them a technological advantage over Russian forces, but that advantage is now gone.
Starlink enables faster, more secure transmission of information and is therefore indispensable to Ukraine’s battlefield communications capabilities, while Russia’s previous reliance on radio communications puts its larger, better-equipped forces at a disadvantage.
The Pentagon, which financially supports the Ukrainian military's Starlink access, announced in May that it was working to prevent the Russian military from using the terminals in Ukraine.
US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said in May that the US was “deeply engaged in working with the Ukrainian government and SpaceX to counter Russia’s unauthorized use of Starlink terminals”.
There is currently no information about Russia's response to the above accusations.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nga-dac-loi-nho-dung-lau-thiet-bi-dau-cuoi-starlink-o-ukraine-185241015112635998.htm
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