Musk says steps to stop Russia from using Starlink seem to have worked

Feb 1 (Reuters) – Elon Musk said on Sunday that steps SpaceX had taken to stop the ‘unauthorized’ use of Starlink by Russia seemed to have worked.

“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,” SpaceX CEO Musk said on X.

Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday that Ukraine is working with SpaceX to stop Russia from guiding drones using Starlink’s internet system, after Kyiv said it had found it on long-range drones used in Russian attacks.

“Western technology must continue to help the democratic world and protect civilians, rather than being used for terrorism and destroying peaceful cities,” Fedorov said on X.

Despite Musk’s differences with Ukrainian officials over his views on the war with Russia, Ukraine’s military still relies on tens of thousands of Starlinks for battlefield communication and for piloting some drone missions.

Starlink has expanded Musk’s geopolitical sway. In 2022 he asserted control over how and where Starlink was being used by Ukrainian troops fighting Russian forces.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi and Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru)