Latvia Convicts Azerbaijani for Supplying Starlink to Russian Army

A Latvian court has convicted an Azerbaijani citizen of purchasing and supplying Starlink satellite communication terminals to the Russian military.

This was reported by DELFI.

According to the investigation, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 11 years in prison, followed by three years of probation, and imposed a five-year ban on entering Latvia.

The court found that the defendant acted as part of an organized group with the aim of assisting a foreign state in undermining the territorial integrity and political independence of another democratic country.

He was also found guilty of violating European Union sanctions as part of a premeditated group conspiracy, causing significant damage.
Three other defendants in the case, two Latvian citizens and one non-citizen, will be tried in separate proceedings.

The case was transferred to the prosecutor’s office in June 2025 after the completion of the pre-trial investigation.

The investigation found that the group ordered dozens of Starlink kits online. It also purchased military-related goods, including weapon parts, cartridges, bullets and ballistic meteorological sensors, with total spending of about €200,000.

These goods were later illegally shipped to Russia and sold to individuals linked to the Russian armed forces.

The investigation was conducted by Latvian State Security Service (VDD).

It was recently reported that Starlink satellite traffic in Ukraine dropped by about 75% after SpaceX shut down terminals in temporarily occupied territories.

According to Cloudflare, the sharp drop was recorded on February 4. Russian military bloggers reported the outages the same day, claiming they affected both sides.

At the same time, Ukrainian military sources said the disruptions were limited and affected only some users.

Afterward, traffic stabilized at about 25-30% of previous levels and did not fully recover. This may indicate that Russia has not found an effective way to bypass the restrictions imposed by SpaceX.