Russia increasing efforts to shut down Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites
Russia is stepping up efforts to cut off Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, according to a report.
During the nearly two-year conflict, the Russian military has tried to prevent Ukraine from accessing the satellites by attach🐽﷽ing jammers to its tanks to interfere with signals and disrupt exploding drones,
Jamming of Ukraine’s satellites has forced troops to move closer to their targets on the front lines of the war, which began in February 2022.
The satellites have been crucial for Ukraine’s survival during the conflict.
Satellite internet has allowed soldiers to communicate effectively on the front lines and also allowed Ukrainian busines꧅ses to operate during the conflict, the news site reported.
“Russia absolutely would like to find a way to negate Ukraine’s use of Starlink,” Brian Weeden, chief program officer for the non-profit Secure World Foundation told Business Insider. “But that is much easier said than done because of the architecture of the constellation.”
Musk’s Space X sent thousands of Starlink satellite kits to U꧅kra꧙ine in the early days of the conflict with Russia.
A biography written about the billionaire last year created controversy when it said that Musk turned off Ukraine’s access to Starlink amid an effort to use submarine drones to attack Russian vessels in Crimea.
In fact, the system’s reach did not extend to the territory Russia has occupied since 2014.
Ukraine had asked Musk to enable the system’s use there, but he declined because he thought it would escalate the war.
