Russian forces are increasingly using Starlink terminals in the areas they occupy. Kiev-based engineer Oleh Kutkov, who works on Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian army, said there were also many complaints about communication stability and speed on the front line. “In fact, the Russians began to actively use the front-line terminals,” says the engineer.
Russian forces prefer Starlink in occupied areas
Terminals are actively purchased and resold by Russian dealers. Purchases are made through third countries, through shell companies. “It is impossible to track and stop these programs, since our volunteers buy terminals in the same way in all countries and pay with different cards,” says Oleh Kutkov. These terminals operate only on the territory of Ukraine. The fact is that within a 20-kilometer zone on the front line it is impossible to distinguish which side the terminal belongs to. This allows front-line Russian invaders to also use Starlink terminals.
Oleh Kutkov added that in these front-line areas, all terminals use the same channel under the same programmer from the satellite. A large number of terminals are concentrated in a single area, resulting in system overload and reduced speed. SpaceX stated that the company does not do any business with the Russian Government or military.