russia has begun using drones equipped with Starlink satellite communications to conduct strikes against Ukrainian cities, prompting an urgent response from Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed on January 29 that the ministry had contacted SpaceX within hours of detecting the new threat and proposed technical and organizational solutions to address the misuse of the system.
According to Mykhailo Fedorov, SpaceX reacted quickly to the appeal and immediately began working on resolving the issue. He expressed gratitude to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and to Elon Musk personally, emphasizing that the decision to urgently activate Starlink and deliver terminals to Ukraine at the start of the full-scale invasion was critical to the country's resilience and continuity of communications.
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Mykhailo Fedorov stressed that Western technologies must continue to support democratic societies and protect civilians, rather than be exploited for terror attacks against peaceful cities. Ukrainian officials view the use of commercial satellite communications for strikes on civilian targets as a serious escalation and a direct abuse of globally available technology.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence had previously warned about russia's adaptation of FPV drones to operate via Starlink. In late December 2025, the Defense Intelligence reported that the russian Molniya-2R fixed-wing FPV drone had been modified to carry Starlink terminal along with a stabilized camera for reconnaissance missions. An interactive breakdown of the drone's components was later published on the War&Sanctions platform.
According to the Defense Intelligence, the identified Starlink terminal, specifically the UTA-231 model, is not used for navigation, but as a data transmission channel providing video feed, telemetry, and command-and-control. This integration allows russian operators to maintain stable communications beyond the radio horizon and significantly reduces the effectiveness of short-range electronic warfare systems.
By the end of 2025, russia began mass employment of Molniya drones equipped with Starlink for both reconnaissance and strike missions along the front. In mid-January, Ukrainian specialists also confirmed the first case of BM-35 drone being controlled via Starlink, raising concerns that even long-range attack drones could soon adopt the same approach.
Drone and electronic warfare expert Serhii Flash, who later became an advisor to Mykhailo Fedorov, warned that drones using Starlink are largely immune to conventional jamming and extremely difficult to detect. He emphasized that only direct cooperation with SpaceX could provide a global solution.
According to Serhii Flash, Ukraine has already begun receiving both rapid interim measures and more systematic long-term solutions, developed jointly with the company, to counter this emerging and dangerous threat.
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