Elon Musk Warns Ukraine's Starlink Internet Service Could Be Russia's New Target

Starlink method that could be targeted by Russia. (photo: Dgtl Infra)

JAKARTA - The move by the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, to "intervene" in the Russo-Ukrainian War, by providing internet services through Starlink for Ukraine, is believed to have angered Moscow.

Musk said there was a high chance his company's Starlink satellite broadband service could be the next target in Ukraine.

The warning comes days after an internet security researcher warned that devices used for satellite communications could be "beacons" that Russia could target for airstrikes.

"Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communication system still functioning in parts of Ukraine, so the chances of being targeted are high. Please use it with caution," Musk tweeted.

Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still functioning in parts of Ukraine, so the chances of being targeted are high. Please use it with caution.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2022

He asked users to "turn on Starlink only when needed and place the antenna as far away from people as possible" and "place light camouflage over the antenna to avoid visual detection."

On Saturday, February 26, Musk said Starlink was already activated in Ukraine and SpaceX was sending more terminals to the country. The move was in response to a tweet by a Ukrainian government official asking Musk to make Starlink stations available to the Ukrainian people after many internet services were down due to the Russian attack.

On Monday, February 28, Ukraine said it had received Musk's donated Starlink satellite internet terminal. But an internet security researcher warned this could be a Russian target.

"...if #Putin controls the air over #Ukraine, the user's uplink transmission becomes a beacon... for airstrikes," John Scott-Railton, a senior research fellow at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab project, tweeted.

"#Russia has decades of experience hitting people by targeting their satellite communications," he added in a series of 15 tweets detailing the risks.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Starlink for "keeping Ukrainian cities connected and emergency services saving lives!" But he said the country needed generators to keep Starlink's services online because of Russia's attack on its massive energy infrastructure.

In response, Musk said SpaceX updated its software to reduce peak power consumption, so that Starlink can be activated from the car's cigarette lighter.

"Mobile roaming is enabled, so the phased array antenna can maintain a signal while the vehicle is moving," he said.

Tim Farrar, a satellite communications consultant, said the Starlink antenna, which looks like a home satellite television antenna, was not designed for use on the move, and it was unclear what Musk meant in the tweet.

Recent developments, Russia and Ukraine have agreed on the need to establish humanitarian corridors and a possible ceasefire around them for the fleeing civilians. The two sides said after talks on Thursday, March 3, as a sign of their first progress since the invasion, what Moscow called "special operations."