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Saturday, April 20th, 2024

There’s a thriving Russian black market for Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals, with the tech being sent far beyond Ukraine

Author:     Mia Jankowicz
Source:     Business Insider
Publication Date:     Apr 9, 2024 | 6:00 AM PDT
 Link: There’s a thriving Russian black market for Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals, with the tech being sent far beyond Ukraine
Stephan:  

This is an appalling story showing Elon Musk to be a modern-day Benedict Arnold. I think he should lose his citizenship and be denied the right to do business in the United States. Americans made him a multi-billionaire, and he is now working to our detriment. Do I need to mention that no person who supports America and its democracy, should have anything to do with Starlink, or X? I hope not.

The Starlink logo on a mobile device with the colors of the Ukrainian flag in the background.  Credit: Getty
  • Starlink terminals are being widely used by Russian forces in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported.
  • A shadowy black market is enabling this, despite Elon Musk’s attempts to limit their military use.
  • Terminals are also being exported from Russia to countries like Sudan, via complex channels, it found.

Starlink terminals are being sold, shipped, and used in occupied Ukraine through a complex black market that also stretches as far as Sudan, The Wall Street Journal reported.

President Vladimir Putin’s forces are regularly using the technology, developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to coordinate attacks in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, with the help of a complex informal network of black market sellers and Russian volunteers, the outlet reported.

The easy-to-activate hardware provided Ukraine with a boost early in Russia’s full-scale invasion, but according to the Journal, Putin’s forces have succeeded this year in bringing it to the battlefield at scale, […]

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