{"id":1170568,"date":"2026-08-26T15:14:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1170568\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:14:31","slug":"ukraine-wants-to-use-drones-equipped-with-elon-musks-starlink-to-attack-russian-missile-launchers-before-they-take-up-firing-positions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1170568\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine wants to use drones equipped with Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink to attack Russian missile launchers before they take up firing positions"},"content":{"rendered":"
    \n
  1. The role of Starlink in Ukraine<\/a>\n<\/li>\n
  2. Key to the new attack tactic<\/a>\n<\/li>\n
  3. Target: Russian oil<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Despite the criticism and the apparent love-hate relationship<\/strong> between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/strong> and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the Starlink technology<\/strong> developed by Musk\u2019s companies could be the key to a new Ukrainian tactic in its war against Russia.<\/p>\n

    The role of Starlink in Ukraine<\/p>\n

    The Ukrainian president<\/strong> himself has acknowledged the importance of the technology<\/strong> developed by Musk\u2019s companies in facilitating communications within the country<\/strong> and halting Russian advances.<\/p>\n

    In fact, Zelenskyy has just awarded the South African-born entrepreneur<\/strong> the Order of Freedom<\/strong>, one of Ukraine\u2019s highest honours, in recognition of the assistance Musk has provided to Kyiv in blocking Russia\u2019s illegal use<\/strong> of Starlink technology and thereby halting the advance of its troops across Ukrainian territory.<\/p>\n

    \"Un
    \nA member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces\u2019 414th Independent Brigade of Unmanned Aerial Attack Systems \u2018Magyars Birds\u2019 inspects an FP-1 deep-strike drone before it takes off on a combat mission, amidst Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, in 2026 \u2013 REUTERS\/ VALETYN OGIRENKO<\/p>\n

    Musk\u2019s Starlink system<\/strong> has been vital to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion<\/strong>, maintaining communications for the civilian population<\/strong>, the Ukrainian government and its army after their own communications networks were destroyed by Russian attacks.<\/p>\n

    Musk agreed to activate the service<\/strong> in Ukraine shortly after the war began, in February 2022<\/strong>, following a request from the Ukrainian government.<\/p>\n

    As well as maintaining communications on Ukrainian territory<\/strong> despite Russian attacks, Starlink has also been crucial for battlefield communications<\/strong>, particularly for the operation of drones, which form a key part of Ukraine\u2019s military strategy.<\/p>\n

    In a war where satellite communications play<\/strong> a vital role, Musk\u2019s support for Ukraine \u2013 by preventing Russia\u2019s unauthorised access<\/strong> to Starlink and its integration into attack drones<\/strong> \u2013 has been instrumental in enabling Ukraine to continue to resist.<\/p>\n

    \"Elon
    \nElon Musk, celebrating SpaceX\u2019s IPO \u2013 PHOTO\/NASDAQ<\/p>\n

    Key to the new attack tactic<\/p>\n

    Musk\u2019s collaboration with Kyiv has enabled Starlink to take on<\/strong> a vital role in military communications, particularly in the case of drones, which can be controlled in areas where conventional radio links are susceptible<\/strong> to disruption by Russian electronic warfare.<\/p>\n

    The next step is now to persuade Musk to agree to the use of Starlink in a new attack tactic<\/strong> by the Ukrainian army on Russian territory. The aim is to expand the use of drones equipped with this technology to enable them to penetrate Russian territory and attack mobile launchers for Russian-<\/strong> and North Korean-made ballistic missiles whilst they are moving into firing positions.<\/p>\n

    In this way, Ukraine would adopt a pre-emptive tactic<\/strong> that would counter one of the main threats facing its air defences.<\/p>\n

    However, for the moment this is merely a hypothesis, as Elon Musk has not authorised this expansion. It should be remembered that in the past, the entrepreneur expressed reservations about his technology<\/strong> being used on the battlefield, which led to some tension with the Ukrainian Government.<\/p>\n

    \"Los
    \nRussian S-400 air defence missile systems during a training exercise at a military base in the Kaliningrad region, Russia, on 11 August 2020 – PHOTO\/ REUTERS<\/p>\n

    Target: Russian oil<\/p>\n

    The main target of Ukrainian drone attacks<\/strong> at present is Russian oil refineries<\/strong> and Black Sea ports from which ships carrying the country\u2019s crude oil depart.<\/p>\n

    These attacks are seriously affecting Russia\u2019s fuel supply<\/strong> and its export capacity, which constitutes a major source of revenue<\/strong> for financing the war.<\/p>\n

    \"Gruesas
    \nUkrainian drone attack on an oil refinery in Moscow, Russia, on 18 June 2026, in this image obtained from social media \u2013 PHOTO\/ SOCIAL MEDIA via REUTERS<\/p>\n

    According to data from Bloomberg, in the four weeks leading up<\/strong> to 23 August, Russian crude oil exports fell to 3.46 million barrels<\/strong> per day. The rise in exports seen following the initial Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries \u2013 which left more crude available for export \u2013 has given way to a sharp decline that Russia is attempting to offset by redirecting oil from Kazakhstan to other ports, thereby freeing up space at the Baltic terminal of Ust-Luga, which is less exposed to Ukrainian attacks.<\/p>\n

    The situation in the Russian oil sector<\/strong> is becoming increasingly precarious: last July, production fell to 8.89 million barrels<\/strong> per day, the lowest level in the last six years, according to OPEC data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The role of Starlink in Ukraine Key to the new attack tactic Target: Russian oil Despite the criticism…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1170569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7654],"tags":[2000,299,317595,6490,283833,26944,12963,332,12964,657],"class_list":["post-1170568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ukraine","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-guerra","tag-l","tag-la-russie","tag-politica","tag-rusia","tag-russia","tag-ucrania","tag-ukraine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117162469716820083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1170568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1170569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1170568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1170568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1170568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}