Support our war crimes investigations unit Support
Skip to content

News Feed

11:44 PM
"Yesterday, Russian border guards celebrated their professional holiday. The fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps congratulated them by successfully crossing the 'holey' state border once again," one of the Russian militia groups fighting on Ukraine's side said on May 29.
Want to partner with the Kyiv Independent?
Contact the Tellers Agency to connect your brand with independent media.
Contact
Ukraine Daily
News from
Ukraine in your
inbox
6:09 PM
Russian troops hit the villages of Kozatske and Zolota Balka in Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast on May 29, the regional administration reported. A 61-year-old man was killed in his house as a result of the Kozatske shelling, according to the report.
3:16 PM
Russia shelled two villages in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on May 29, injuring at least seven people, including the elderly, children, and a pregnant woman, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
2:14 PM
Moldova’s President Maia Sandu warned against the dangers of Russian propaganda and disinformation in the country and proposed the creation of a new governmental body to counter this threat. The envisioned “Patriot Center” would coordinate and implement the state's strategy on combatting disinformation, Sandu said during a press conference on May 29.
MORE NEWS

watch us on facebook

Edit post

Reuters: SpaceX curbed Ukraine's use of Starlink Internet for drones

by The Kyiv Independent news desk February 9, 2023 8:32 AM 2 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Elon Musk's SpaceX has put measures in place to prevent Ukraine's Armed Forces from using the company's Starlink satellite internet service for controlling drones, SpaceX's president said on Feb. 8, Reuters reports.

The Ukrainian military has taken advantage of Starlink satellites to access the internet when the power is out, or there is no internet access. It is also more secure than other networks and makes it nearly impossible for Russian troops to intercept Ukrainian activity.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, said that SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service was "never meant to be weaponized."

"However, Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement," she said during a conference in Washington, D.C.

Shotwell also said that Ukraine's military had used the Starlink satellites to control drones. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also known as drones, have been key for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, detecting and destroying Russian forces.

A Game of Drones: Ukraine builds up UAV fleet

"There are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that," Shotwell said. "There are things that we can do, and have done," she said, without giving any details on the exact measures taken.

According to Shotwell, using the Starlink satellites to control drones went beyond the agreement SpaceX has with the Ukrainian government. The contract was meant for humanitarian purposes, like providing internet to hospitals, banks, and families, she said.

"We know the military is using them for comms, and that's ok," she said. "But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes."

When asked about services outages that Starlink had suffered in Ukraine late last year, Shotwell said she did not know whether those outages were related to the measures taken to curb the Ukrainian military's use of the satellites to control drones.

General Staff: Ukraine to form 'first in the world' attack drone units

Editors' Picks

Support us

Enter your email to subscribe

Please, enter correct email address

Subscribe

* indicates required
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.