Apart from major technological innovations for lasers, lithographs, or turbine engines, Russia’s technological prowess transformed Ukraine’s Starlink system into a platform for its own missions.

While Discord is unplugged, early access to the latest release of Delta in 2022 likely provided Russia with all of the software it needed to deploy a reverse engineered version of Palantir’s battlefield management system on Elon Musk’s Starlink, turning the tables on Ukraine’s own technology.

[1] – [Russia’s illicit Starlink terminals help power its advance in Ukraine, Washington Post, October 12, 2024]

• DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — Russian forces have become deadlier and more agile with the help of illicit Starlink terminals, allowing them to use satellite internet to enhance coordination during assaults, fly more drone sorties and batter Ukrainian troops with accurate artillery fire despite U.S. efforts to stop the flow of technology.
• Tens of thousandsof Starlink dishes form the backbone of Ukraine’s military network, fueling devices vital to fighting a digital war — one of the few advantages Kyiv has against Moscow’s bigger, if less modernized, force. Six Ukrainian soldiers and officers from different units across the Donetsk region told The Washington Post that Russia has closed the technology gap, making its forces more cohesive and boosting the number and precision of attacks.
• Russian use of Starlink is not the only factor that has helped Moscow claw its way toward Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in Donetsk, but it clearly played a role, said Alexander, a battalion commander also in the 47th, criticizing what he said has been an inadequate response to preventing Russian use.