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The Kremlin joined SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in denying reviews that Starlink broadband web terminals are being offered to and utilized by Russian troops in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned Monday there “will not be a licensed system with us; accordingly, it can’t be formally equipped right here and isn’t formally equipped” and subsequently “can’t be used formally in any method,” Reuters reported.
On Sunday, the Protection Intelligence company of Ukraine’s Ministry of Protection reported Russian troops in occupied areas of the nation are utilizing Starlink satellites.
“Radio intercepts of the invaders’ conversations point out that Starlink terminals had been put in, for instance, in models of the 83rd Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Russian armed forces with a purpose to set up Web entry,” the Defense Intelligence agency said. The 83rd Air Assault Brigade is working within the Donetsk area, in response to the Ministry of Protection.
Andriy Yusov, a Protection Intelligence company spokesperson, mentioned using Starlink terminals “is rising” and “beginning to turn into systemic.”
However Musk responded to the reports in a submit on X Sunday, calling them “categorically false.”
“To the most effective of our information, no Starlinks have been offered straight or not directly to Russia,” Musk wrote. SpaceX didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Quartz.
Hundreds of Starlink terminals had been sent to Ukraine in March 2022 after Russia’s invasion that February. US officers had sought methods to maintain the Ukrainian authorities on-line weeks earlier than the invasion, primarily attributable to fears of Russian bodily and cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Authorities contractor DAI started looking for the gear as early as Feb. 11, in response to paperwork Quartz obtained by a Freedom of Data Act request in 2022, and chosen Starlink’s satellite-antenna terminals.
In a request for the terminals in March 2022 by authorities contractor DAI, the US Company for Worldwide Growth (USAID) purchased 1,333 terminals for $1,999,993, whereas SpaceX additionally donated 3,600 terminals to Ukraine.
“DAI and USAID are doing every thing potential to verify the web connection is established upfront of any disruption in telecommunications,” a DAI official wrote within the request.
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