Strana.ua, citing Volodymyr Stepants, founder of People’s Starlink group, reported that many Starlink satellite communication terminals in Ukraine have stopped working with messages about the absence of active accounts. Its group buys and repairs terminals of the American company Space X for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also provides technical support to users of the device.
Noting that the subscriber cannot renew the terminal account, he said, “When you try to contact Space X technical support, the owners of such terminals receive responses about signs of fraudulent activity.”
According to the expert, the problems stem from Ukraine’s “international fraud scheme using Starlink”.
The material states that the intermediaries bought equipment in exchange for a share at a symbolic price meaning subsequent financial obligations, but then sold them at full price in Ukraine without meeting the financial conditions, after which the operator stopped serving such terminals. .
“Strana.ua” states that “often stolen Starlinks are sold to Ukraine”. Experts interviewed by the publication say that stolen equipment is often used by the military, charities and volunteers.
According to Stepanets, “Ukraine has become a major black market for suspected Starlinks.”
“Starlink can be stolen, bought for €1 a share (without any later payment), or listed for refund,” engineer Oleg Kutkov told the publication. The fact is that despite the opportunity to purchase Starlink terminals through the official Space X website, many people order equipment from abroad through unofficial channels in order to save up to 30% of the cost.
On March 17, the Mash Telegram channel published an entry claiming that Poles learned that Ukrainians were selling Starlink terminals received as humanitarian aid from Poland.
One of the users noticed boxes on online trading platforms, which he boasted on his page to show what kind of help Poland provided to Ukraine.
The publication claims that Starlink terminals can be purchased in almost all regions of Ukraine from 3750 to 41 thousand rubles.
March 21 The Economist cites a source from Ukrainian military intelligence reportedThat Space X blocked its terminals on the territory of Russia – in the Kherson, Zaporozhye regions, as well as in the DPR and LPR
“Starlink now uses geofencing to prevent the use of terminals not only in Russian-occupied areas, but also over water, as well as when the receiving device is moving at a speed of more than 100 km / h,” the newspaper writes.
For this reason, it was noted that the fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot launch unmanned aerial vehicles using terminals in the rear of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Economist’s interlocutor claims that the blockade caused problems in the control of reconnaissance aircraft, so the Armed Forces had to use more expensive communication systems.
At the same time, the American company itself, or rather its creator, Elon Musk, claims that the Starlink satellite Internet “was never intended to be used as a weapon.” In mid-February of this year, SpaceX announced that it had taken measures to prevent such situations.
“We know the military uses them for communication and that’s normal. <…> But we didn’t intend to use it offensively,” said company president Gwynn Shotwell.
On his Twitter page, Musk stressed that despite Starlink being used on fronts where there is no other way to connect to the internet, his company “will not allow an escalation of conflict that could lead to a third world war.” .
After that, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, asked SpaceX to decide “either on the side of Ukraine and the right to freedom” or on the side of Russia.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov, by mid-January Ukrainians had 30,000 Starlink terminals. Last December, he announced that Starlink allows the Armed Forces to control drones, receive intelligence, and communicate with each other in areas where secure networks are not available. In addition, the terminals are used for the energy sector, pharmaceuticals, works of government agencies, firefighters and rescuers.