Starlink terminals, which provide high-speed communications, have been vital in giving the Ukrainian military an advantage over invading Russian troops.
Ukrainian intelligence said it confirmed that Russian forces are using the Starlink satellite Internet service on the battlefield in occupied areas in the east of the country.
Releasing what it said on Sunday was evidence, Ukraine's military intelligence said it had confirmed earlier reports about Russian troops' “systemic” use of terminals from Elon Musk's satellite communications system.
Starlink systems have been vital to Ukraine's battlefield communications during the nearly two-year Russian invasion, as kyiv faced a larger and better-equipped army. Personal control of Starlink by the American billionaire, who has regularly repeated the Kremlin's talking points on the conflict, remains a concern for kyiv and its allies.
The terminals were quickly installed to assist Ukraine after the February 2022 Russian invasion and have been vital to communications on the Kiev battlefield.
Following reports in Ukraine, Space X said last week that it “does not do business of any kind with the Russian government or its military.”
However, the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) posted an audio clip on Telegram that it said showed Russian troops discussing the installation of terminals in eastern Ukraine.
“There have been cases of use of these devices by Russian occupiers. It is beginning to take on a systemic character,” said GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov.
In a statement, the agency said the terminals were being used by units such as Russia's 83rd Air Assault Brigade, which is fighting near the besieged towns of Klishchiivka and Andriivka in the partially occupied eastern region of Donetsk.
Reports from Ukraine last week claimed that Russia has been purchasing Starlink equipment in places like Dubai.
Western technological components have regularly been found among Russia's arsenal as Moscow has become more adept at evading sanctions, often importing goods through third countries.
massive bombing
Russian forces launched 45 drones into Ukraine overnight, kyiv reported Sunday.
The attack, which lasted five and a half hours, targeted agricultural facilities and coastal infrastructure, officials from southern Ukraine's defense forces wrote on Telegram. They added that an attack in the Mykolaiv region injured one person, started a fire and damaged nearby residential buildings.
Another person was injured in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region when a fire broke out due to falling debris from a destroyed drone, the head of the region's military administration, Serhiy Lysak, said.
The attacks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to reshuffle military commanders in a bid to maintain momentum against attacking Russian forces.
kyiv announced that former Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Pavlyuk would become the new commander of Ukraine's ground forces. The position was previously held by Oleksandr Syrsky, who was named Thursday as a replacement for Ukraine's outgoing military chief, Valerii Zaluzhny.
The new presidential decrees also named Yurii Sodol, former head of Ukraine's marine corps, as the new commander of Ukraine's combined forces; Ihor Skibiuk as commander of the Ukrainian air assault forces; and Ihor Plahuta as commander of the Ukrainian territorial defense forces.
Incoming commander-in-chief Syrsky has signaled that his immediate goals include improving troop rotation on the front lines and harnessing the power of new technology at a time when kyiv's forces are largely on the defensive.
