A Russian drone shot down over Ukraine appears to have been equipped with hardware from Elon Musk’s space broadband service, Starlink.
The claims, which include photographs of wreckage bearing a Starlink logo, were published by Ukrainian outlet Defence Express. The Defence Express report alleges that the debris it depicts was from a drone downed during a Wednesday incident in which Ukraine intercepted 28 of 32 drones launched by Russia.
Images of the downed drones reportedly show a model known as the Geran-2, a Russian-made copy of Iran’s Shahed 136 drone. These propeller-driven unmanned aerial vehicles, with a range of approximately 2,500 kilometres, typically carry either a 50kg warhead or surveillance equipment.
Starlink’s service generally offers upload speeds of 5-20Mbps, which is sufficient for a drone to stream data and video in real-time.
The wreckage inscribed with a Starlink logo reportedly bears intact serial numbers, although these have been obscured in published reports. If the component is indeed Starlink hardware, it should be possible to verify its origins—potentially even tracing where it was purchased and by whom.
Confirmation of the device’s authenticity would lend credence to numerous reports claiming that Russian ground forces routinely employ Starlink for internet access in the field. Democratic members of the US Congress have called for an investigation into these allegations.
Elon Musk has consistently maintained that Starlink units are not sold in Russia and that the service is inoperable within the country. However, Moscow and Iran have demonstrated their ability to circumvent sanctions and restrictions—potentially finding ways to acquire and utilise Starlink-equipped hardware.
In a related development, Ramzan Kadyrov, the warlord leading Russia’s Chechen Republic, recently boasted of possessing a machine gun-equipped Cybertruck from Musk’s other major venture, Tesla. Kadyrov claims the vehicle was a gift from Musk received last month. However, it’s worth noting that Tesla has reportedly since remotely disabled the vehicle.
Ukraine has adopted Starlink to maintain connectivity following Russia’s invasion. Musk shipped antennas valued at over $80 million to the country. However, Musk has reportedly rebuffed Ukrainian requests to use the service for military drones – citing concerns about escalating the conflict – and the costs of the terminals have doubled in the country.
As investigations continue, the international community will be watching for any developments that could impact the ongoing war in Ukraine and the role of commercial space technologies in modern warfare.
(Photo by Evgeny Opanasenko)
See also: China launches first batch of ‘Starlink rival’ satellites
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