Ukraine, Starlink and Elon Musk: Kyiv seeks strikes deep inside Russia

Ukraine wants to use the Starlink network to strike deep inside Russian territory, but it must contend with Elon Musk’s changing moods.

Does Elon Musk hold the fate of the war in Ukraine in his hands? Kyiv wants to use the Starlink network to direct its drones further into Russian territory. The aim is to target its enemy’s infrastructure more effectively.

Starlink has been made available to Ukrainian forces within Ukraine. Kyiv’s plan is to extend that availability beyond the border, allowing its drones to be guided more accurately up to 200 kilometres inside Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky is said to have made this request to Donald Trump during a visit to the White House a few weeks ago.

The difficulty is that such authorisation depends on Elon Musk, whose stance has been inconsistent. Although the billionaire made Starlink available to the Ukrainian military, he has always refused to expand coverage, particularly during operations in Crimea. Furthermore, Musk’s main contact, former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, was dismissed recently. Zelensky is therefore in a difficult position, especially as he is also requesting more Patriot missiles to intercept Russian attacks - the same missiles used by the US military in the war in Iran.

Zelensky calls for a European Starlink

The prospects of Musk allowing Starlink to be used in Russia are slim. However, Zelensky has raised a possible alternative: developing a European Starlink. This is a vital option, as the Russians, who do not have access to Starlink, are reportedly designing their own satellite network in partnership with China. As reported by BFM, the Ukrainian president said:

“We are not simply going to wait for the Chinese and Russians to launch their own Starlink equivalent. Of course, we will work with Starlink, but we are also working on another European project. We have started testing it.”

The IRIS² project is currently being prepared, although it remains far from completion. In the meantime, using Starlink could make the Ukrainian military’s task considerably easier. Kyiv has already struck hard recently, destroying major infrastructure in the country. Its preferred targets include Wildberries warehouses, the Russian equivalent of Amazon. By targeting this company, Ukraine hopes to cripple Vladimir Putin’s country’s economy, affecting both the military and the public.