Russian forces are attaching Starlink satellite dishes to their drones to avoid Ukrainian jamming and strike targets deep behind the front lines.
The BM-35 drones have been equipped with Elon Musk’s internet-connected terminals to extend their range into Nato territory.
The satellite systems allow Moscow to bypass Ukraine’s defences which typically disable drones through jamming GPS and radio signals.
Ukrainian intelligence also believes Moscow has begun modifying some Iranian-made Shahed drones, thousands of which are fired across Ukraine every month, with the SpaceX technology.
Kyiv said on Thursday there had been “hundreds” of cases where Starlink-enabled Russian drones had been fired into Ukraine.
Russia is using Elon Musk’s internet-connected terminals to extend the range of their drones – Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s defence minister, said it was working with SpaceX to prevent Russian drones being modified with Starlink.
“We are grateful to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and personally to Elon Musk for the quick response and the start of work on resolving the situation,” Mr Fedorov said in a statement.
Russia’s use of Starlink-modified BM-35 drones places most of Ukraine, all of Moldova, and parts of Poland, Lithuania, and Romania in range if launched from Russia and Russia-occupied Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The ISW also said Russia had attached Starlink systems to Shahed drones as far back as Sept 2024, while Molniya strike drones were also modified from December last year.
The Starlink satellite terminal allows a Russian drone to transmit video signals from two cameras that are fitted into the drone. The technology also increases Russia’s chances of striking targets behind the front line since it makes the weapon resistant to jamming by Ukrainian forces.
Molniya strike drones were also modified with satellite technology from December last year
Pavlo Naroznhyi, founder of Reactive Post and a Ukrainian military expert, told The Telegraph that before the modifications, Shahed drones were “stupid” as they were only able to fly on a “pre-programmed trajectory”.
“The first version of Shahed was ‘stupid’. It had inertial and GPS guidance. Ukraine used radio electronic warfare systems to feed them with fake coordinates,” Mr Naroznhyi explained. “Now they have become a manned weapon, allowing them to strike moving targets.”
In addition to Starlink terminals, Mr Narozhnyi pointed out that Russia had also started to use Chinese-supplied radio modems for a similar purpose, providing Geran-5 kamikaze drones, for example, with improved connectivity.
“This acts as a wi-fi network where each drone equipped with the modem and an antenna can become either a strike drone or retranslate a signal to another drone.”
On Thursday, Mr Fedorov thanked SpaceX for their cooperation and highlighted Mr Musk’s decision to activate Starlink satellites in Ukraine at the start of the war.
“Western technologies must continue to help the democratic world and protect civilians, not be used for terror and the destruction of peaceful cities.”
However, the Tesla billionaire allegedly ordered Starlink satellites to be shut off during a vital counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces in Kherson in Sept 2022.
Starlink satellite devices have been used in Ukraine since the start of the war – Pierre Crom/Getty
At least 100 Starlink terminals were deactivated following Mr Musk’s order, leaving Ukrainian troops in a communications blackout.
Drones surveilling Russian forces went dark, while long-range artillery units were suddenly unable to strike their targets, sources told Reuters.
As a result, Ukrainian troops failed to surround a Russian position in the city of Beryslav, east of Kherson. A military official told Reuters the operation descended into “failure”.
Prior to Reuters’ investigation, Mr Musk claimed Starlink “would never do such a thing”. A SpaceX spokesman said the report was “inaccurate”.
Last year, a two-and-a-half-hour long global Starlink blackout blinded communications across the Ukrainian front line, forcing drone units to delay missions and fly without video feeds.
Earlier this week, Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, called on Mr Musk to prevent Russia from using Starlink satellites after an attack on a passenger train in Kharkiv.
The 54-year-old South African responded by calling Mr Sikorski a “drooling imbecile” and insisted that Starlink’s terms of service “do not allow for offensive military use, as it is a civilian commercial system”.
He also pointed out that Ukraine had been able to utilise Starlink for military communications.
Two Ukrainian analysts said the train may have been hit with Shahed drones that had been modified with the SpaceX technology, though Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied this.
”Russia has started using Starlink on other drones, and now is using it on Shaheds as well,” analyst Olena Kryzhanivska told CBS News on Wednesday. “The attack yesterday was not surprising at all. It was expected.”