The head of Russia鈥檚 Lugansk People鈥檚 Republic has banned all products from Elon Musk鈥檚 company SpaceX, including equipment for the Starlink satellite internet system, citing security concerns.
鈥淪tarlink technology can be used by the enemy to coordinate its actions, transfer data and deliver strikes on our territory. We cannot afford to ignore this threat,鈥 Leonid Pasechnik said Thursday on social media.
The border region, formerly part of Ukraine, declared independence following the Western-backed 2014 coup in Kiev and later voted to join Russia.
Russian officials have voiced concerns that Starlink is not a purely civilian technology and could be used for military purposes since before the ongoing crisis.
Musk began supplying Starlink terminals to Ukraine after the conflict escalated in 2022. He claimed the service was resistant to Russian jamming efforts.
Satellite communications via Starlink have enabled Ukrainian forces to weaponize industrial-grade drones that can carry the terminals and be piloted remotely from a large distance.
Musk said back in 2023 that he had rejected a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink over Crimea, which he interpreted as preparation for strikes on the Russian naval base in Sevastopol.
鈥淚f I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,鈥 he said at the time.
During the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, Musk faced calls to 鈥減ut the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian regime鈥 by providing Starlink services 鈥渢o the Iranian people鈥 鈥 a scenario apparently intended to instigate an uprising.
Musk replied with 鈥渢he beams are on.鈥 Reza Pahlavi, the son of the pro-Western monarch of Iran ousted by the 1979 revolution who advocates for regime change in Tehran, responded, 鈥淭hank you, Elon.鈥
Subsequently, the US joined Israel in conducting airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. President Donald Trump subsequently urged both nations to agree to a truce.