Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski recently accused Elon Musk’s satellite internet service of “making money on war crimes”, over allegations that the technology was being used by Russian forces to help target Ukraine.
The accusation on 27 January followed fresh evidence from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which said that Russian forces were increasingly utilising Starlink satellite systems to significantly extend the range of strike drones.
Following the allegations, Ukraine’s defence ministry and Musk’s company, SpaceX, announced they would work together to block Russian forces from using Starlink. But what is the technology, and is there any evidence that Musk is allowing it to be used by Russia?
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite internet network operated by Starlink Services, a telecommunications provider that is a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It currently covers around 150 countries and territories.
It’s been used extensively since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 for both humanitarian and military purposes, with costs partly covered by the US Department of Defence since June 2023.
As of March 2025, the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs pays approximately $50 million (€42.4 million) per year to support Starlink services in Ukraine.
Starlink is used by the military to communicate on the battlefield, by government agencies to maintain public services and keep digital ID systems running and by hospitals and emergency services during power outages.
Musk has previously said Starlink is prohibited for offensive military operations under the company’s terms of service and has refused to activate it over Russian-occupied Crimea, citing concerns about escalation.
Nevertheless, Victoria Samson, a space security analyst at the Secure World Foundation, told The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team, that Starlink can be used to support drone attacks by enabling long-range communication between operators.
Drones equipped with Starlink are also resistant to jamming by Ukrainian forces.
What do we know about Russian use?
Reports of Russian forces accessing Starlink services have appeared as early as 2024. SpaceX said at the time it does not sell or ship Starlink to Russia and does not conduct business with the Russian government or military.
Moreover, international sanctions and export controls on Russia mean that, in theory, it should be difficult for Moscow’s troops to legally acquire the technology’s hardware.
Nevertheless, Ukrainian officials say they had evidence of “hundreds” of attacks by Russian drones equipped with Starlink terminals, allowing Russian operators to bypass Ukraine’s electronic defences that disable drones by jamming GPS and radio signals.
Ukrainian defence technology adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov also claimed on Telegram that Starlink technology may have been involved in a recent Russian drone strike on a passenger train in the Kharkiv region that killed five people.
Melanie Garson, associate professor of international security at University College London, told The Cube that available evidence suggests Moscow is acquiring Starlink through illicit means, either through allies supplying them, capturing them in the field, or buying them on secondary or shadow markets.
Following the allegations, Ukraine’s defence ministry said it was working with SpaceX to restrict unauthorised Starlink use.
Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced the introduction of a verification system described as a “whitelist”, allowing only registered Starlink terminals to operate inside Ukraine.
Musk said the initiative appeared to have success, and urged Kyiv to flag any remaining cases of “unauthorised use”. His comments earned praise from the Ukrainians.
Why is it difficult to block access?
Experts say restricting Russian access to Starlink in a war zone is technically complex, primarily because it risks cutting access for Ukrainian users as well.
Samson said SpaceX can limit Starlink coverage through geofencing, which allows the system to operate only in defined regions.
However, this is difficult in an active frontline, where the line keeps “moving back and forth” and risks disrupting Ukrainian Starlink use.
Senior research assistant David Bacci at Oxford Thermofluids Institute said that Ukraine’s reported Starlink outages in 2024 may have been caused by such geofencing, as Starlink attempted to cut access to Russian use of the system.
There are additional challenges in shutting down Starlink terminals that have been captured or diverted.
Ultimately, there is no evidence that Elon Musk or SpaceX have directly supplied Starlink services to Russian forces.
Independent analysts say Russian troops likely accessed Starlink terminals through capture or illicit markets, and illegally used them to support drone operations.