SpaceX urges employees to "take off gloves" and use Starlink to help Ukraine - Atlantic

SpaceX executives have instructed their employees to "take off the gloves" and "use Starlink for anything that will help Ukraine."

This was reported by journalist Simon Shuster in an article for The Atlantic.

According to the author, after a series of negotiations with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his team, the first phase of the plan was implemented in late January, which limited the use of Starlink on drones for both sides.

Later, the company formed a "white list" of Ukrainian users and closed access to russians. Shuster's interlocutor, familiar with the implementation of the decision, noted that from the technical side, creating such a list took about a day.

What incident prompted restriction of Starlink for russians

The article also describes an incident in late January, when a russian strike drone broke through Ukrainian air defenses and flew towards the government quarter in Kyiv at low altitude in the direction of the Office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to eyewitnesses, the drone was visible from the Cabinet of Ministers building.

One of the unnamed government officials said: "A bunch of people saw it and were running around, like, 'What the f*** was that?'" The drone was later identified as a russian BM-35; it crashed into a neighboring building, no people were injured.

As Shuster notes, it was this incident that prompted Ukrainian officials to look for mechanisms to prohibit the use of Starlink by the russian side. According to the journalist's source, "there was definitely a political decision on Musk's part," although not everyone within the company understood the motives for such a move.

What is known about Starlink restrictions for russians

On February 4, SpaceX blocked the operation of Starlink terminals in Ukraine. Equipment that was not included in the so-called "white list" stopped working.

This was done against the background of the active use of Starlink terminals by the russians in their strike drones. Starlink equipment allowed to control drones, adjust the flight route and select a target for attack in real time.

The very next day, February 5, it became known that the russian army at the front began to have problems in managing troops due to the blocking of Starlink. The occupiers have been actively using this equipment at the front for several years.

Also on February 5, Radio Liberty wrote, citing its own sources in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that due to the blocking of Starlink, the russians stopped assaults on some sections of the front.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine previously stated that the occupiers had begun looking for Ukrainians who would register a Starlink terminal for a monetary reward.