US businessman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk denied that his company SpaceX is selling its Starlink terminals to Russia.
“A number of false news reports claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia. This is categorically untrue. As far as we know, no Starlink has been sold to Russia directly or indirectly,” he wrote on social network X.
Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Sunday that attacking Russian forces had been found using Starlink terminals to aid their attack. It released what it said was a recording of an intercepted conversation between two Russian soldiers as proof.
The Kremlin said on Monday the Starlink system by Elon Musk’s SpaceX is not certified for usage in Russia, and added it won’t get into discussions between Kyiv and Musk.
Starlink terminals, which use a series of satellites run by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to provide high-speed communications, have been vital in giving Ukraine’s military an edge over invading Russian troops.
However, multiple reports of Russian troops using Starlink on the frontline in occupied Ukraine have begun to surface in the Ukrainian media in recent weeks.
They prompted SpaceX to release a statement on social media on 8 February, saying that it did not “do business of any kind with the Russian government or its military.”
Western tech components have regularly been found in Russia’s arsenal as Moscow has become more skilled at evading sanctions, often importing goods via third countries.
