Pentagon stops hundreds of illegal Starlink terminals used by Russia in Ukraine

According to Defense Express, Pentagon spokesperson Amanda Dory recently told Bloomberg that SpaceX has been actively cooperating with the US military to counter the illegal operation of Starlink satellite communication terminals in Ukraine by the invading Russian forces.

Dory said that around one out of every hundred Starlink terminals in Ukraine were discovered to be illicit. According to Bloomberg, hundreds of unconfirmed terminals have been shut off.

Previously, the US Department of Defense claimed that SpaceX was assisting to limit the Russian military's use of Starlink terminals. At the same time, Dory notes that the Pentagon recognizes that Russian forces are adapting to the situation and will likely seek new ways to acquire access to one of the most critical communication tools.

Back in February of this year, the first, then-unconfirmed, reports surfaced that the Russian army could use SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet.

At the same time, in May, the Pentagon revealed that Russia uses Starlink terminals for communication in Ukraine's temporarily controlled territory, stating that this situation is unlikely to be remedied via traditional techniques.

Because the Russian Federation has a simple but successful strategy for obtaining Starlink: they are purchased through intermediaries, and payment is made with a card not issued by a Russian bank. As a result, tackling the problem by blocking each terminal will merely result in Russia purchasing a new one for each terminal that is blocked.

As a result, a genuinely effective solution would be to create a so-called "white list" - a list of all legitimately official terminals, such as those used by the Ukrainian Defense Forces, and block all others.