Starlink Restrictions for Russians Yielded Results — Elon Musk

SpaceX owner Elon Musk said measures aimed at stopping Russia’s unauthorized use of Starlink satellite communications appear to have had an effect.

He wrote this in response to Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

“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 wrote.

The Defense Minister confirmed that SpaceX’s initial measures to prevent the Russian military from using its terminals are already showing results.

“We are working very closely with your team on the next important steps. Thank you for standing with us. You are a true champion of freedom and a true friend of the Ukrainian people,” Fedorov replied.

The Minister added that Ukraine is already working on a simple way to register Starlink, which will be able to operate within the country.

The Ukrainian government started to publicly communicate the problem of the use of American satellite terminals by the Russian military at the end of January.

After that, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine initiated contact with SpaceX to resolve the situation, and Elon Musk responded promptly.

In January, Ukraine’s air defense first intercepted a Russian BM-35 drone, which was controlled via a Starlink satellite terminal.

Previously, such terminals were also recorded on Molniya-type strike drones.

The first cases of Starlink use on Shahed drones were recorded in September 2024, but it did not become widespread then.