How Russia is trying to gain access to Starlink. “He threatens and blackmails relatives of prisoners of war”

Russia blackmailed relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war to register in their names Starlink terminals that the Russian military could use to improve communications between its units and to direct its drones, authorities in Kiev denounced on Tuesday.

“Looking for a way out of the difficult situation they are in, the occupiers contacted families of prisoners of war. We received information about cases of threats and requests that they (relatives of prisoners of war) officially register their Starlink terminal names. The technology was then to be used against Ukraine and Ukrainians,” said a note published by the Ukrainian state body for managing the issue of prisoners of war, according to the agencies EFE and Agerpres.

Russia has lost access to Ukrainian terminals of the Starlink satellite internet network, owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, after the Ukrainian side installed filters on the satellite network connection, which led to the halting of the advance of Russian forces this week.

However, according to several Russian military bloggers, Moscow's troops have already regained access to the terminals, which they use unofficially to connect some of the drones with which they attack Ukrainian territory.

In its statement, Kiev warned the families of the prisoners of war that anyone who collaborates in attacks against Ukraine could be tried and convicted, and asked them to report any blackmail attempts by Russia to the Ukrainian authorities.

How he found out about the blackmail of the Russians

The Ukrainian secret services have in the past revealed blackmail actions by the Russian authorities against the relatives of prisoners of war held in Russia, promising them to improve the conditions of captivity of their loved ones in exchange for participation in acts of sabotage in Ukraine.

The blackmailing of the relatives of some prisoners of war for the registration of Starlink terminals, which were to be used by the Russian army, was learned after the authorities in Kiev recently opened, in collaboration with SpaceX, a mandatory register in which all users in Ukraine must register.

Thus, unregistered terminals were blocked and registered users who provided services for Russian drones or for Russian forces units using Starlink on the front could be identified.

Ukraine created this registry with SpaceX after discovering that some Russian attack drones were equipped with Starlink terminals to connect to the Internet while flying over Ukraine. This allowed the operators of these drones to control them in real time until the mission was completed.

Starlink is banned in Russia due to the US sanctions in force against this country.