To prevent Russia from outfitting drones with Starlink dishes, ‘only verified and registered’ Starlink dishes will be able to operate in Ukraine, says the country’s Minster of Defense.<\/b>
\nSpaceX is resorting to drastic measures to prevent the Russian military from accessing Starlink on smuggled satellite dishes: whitelisting the terminals that are allowed to operate in Ukraine.
«Soon, only verified and registered terminals will operate in Ukraine. Everything else will be disconnected», Ukraine\u2019s Minster of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov, posted on Telegram.
Russian military forces have repeatedly found ways to harness SpaceX\u2019s satellite internet system. SpaceX and the Pentagon have tried to stamp out such use, but in recent weeks, Russia has outfitted drones with Starlink dishes to help them carry out \u201chundreds\u201d of attacks inside Ukraine.
In response, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the company has been working to cut off the access. \u201cLooks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked,\u201d he said this weekend, without elaborating.
Although Fedorov thanked SpaceX for the efforts, he tweeted that the initial crackdown is only the \u201cfirst steps that delivered rapid results in countering Russian drones.\u201d
» In the coming days, we will share instructions for Ukrainian users to register their Starlink terminals for verification. Unverified terminals will be disabled,\u201d he added. \u201cThe registration process will be simple, fast, and user-friendly. Detailed instructions will be published shortly.\u201d
His Telegram post adds that the Ukrainian government «adopted a resolution» to impose the whitelist, while explaining that Russian drones equipped with Starlink dishes have been difficult to shoot down. «The only technical solution to counteract this is the introduction of a ‘white list’ and authorization of all terminals. At the initiative of the Ukrainian government, we are implementing it in cooperation with SpaceX», he added.
The Ukrainian government posted more details, which says the verification process to register a Starlink dish for civilians and businesses will begin on Tuesday. When the whitelist will take effect was left unclear.
Although SpaceX has always blocked Starlink access in Russia, the Kremlin has reportedly been sourcing Starlink dishes in other foreign markets so that its soldiers can use them along the borders and inside Ukraine. It\u2019s unclear why SpaceX is only using the whitelisting approach now. But Starlink has been crucial to the wartime communications in Ukraine for both civilians and the country\u2019s military. So this approach could disrupt legitimate communications within Ukraine.<\/p>\n