(Credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Two Ukrainian citizens are facing life in prison for allegedly helping the Russian military use SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service.
Earlier this month, Ukraine imposed a “whitelist” to block Russian soldiers from using unregistered Starlink dishes in the country. To circumvent the whitelist, Russia has allegedly been trying to recruit Ukrainians to register Starlink dishes and then hand them over to the Russians. On Tuesday, the Security Service of Ukraine announced it had detained two citizens who agreed to register Starlink dishes for the “Russian occupiers”—in exchange for just $30.
Russia recruited the two unemployed citizens, a 36-year-old man and his 28-year-old roommate, through the messaging app Telegram. In return, they were offered $30 per registered Starlink dish. “In order to activate more such devices, the suspects tried to involve other people in the scheme,” the Security Service of Ukraine added.
As evidence, Ukrainian authorities pointed to mobile phones seized from the two citizens, which show communications with the Russians, including instructions on how to register Starlink equipment on Ukraine's official whitelist. The Ukrainian government has charged the two citizens with high treason, the penalty for which is life in prison.
Starlink has become a lifeline for Ukrainian forces, but Russian soldiers have also been connecting to it via thousands of black market satellite dishes. While Starlink is unavailable in Russia, Moscow's invading forces have smuggled in Starlink hardware to stay connected. In recent months, Russian forces have been even outfitting drones with Starlink dishes to commit remote attacks deep within Ukrainian territory.
In response, Ukraine and SpaceX took the drastic measure of implementing the whitelist, requiring both Ukrainian civilians and businesses to register their Starlink dishes with official service centers. The whitelist appears to have worked, causing Russian troops to lose a critical communications resource and blunting their offensive capabilities, according to the BBC.
However, the Security Service of Ukraine warns that Russia has been trying to recruit Ukrainians willing to help them get connected to Starlink through online ads and by impersonating Ukrainian military personnel.