How Elon Musk's Starlink Satellites Are Giving The Ukrainian Military The Edge

Elon Musk's satellite system Starlink could be helping Ukrainian forces win the drone war amid Russia's invasion.

Ukrainian forces are using surveillance attack drones called Aerorozvidka (Aerial Reconnaissance) to target Russian positions and tanks.

Due to internet outages, Ukraine has since turned to Elon Musk's Starlink for some of its communications.

Drone teams are able to use Starlink in badly connected areas to gain intelligence on their battlefield database.

According to The Telegraph, Ukraine forces use direct drones to drop anti-tank munitions, sometimes flying up silently to Russian forces at night as they sleep in their vehicles.

The drone unit uses a system called 'Delta', which includes 'situational awareness' software that creates an interactive map, incorporating imagery from drones, satellites, sensors and human intelligence so the enemy can be tracked.

It's safe to say the Kremlin is not best pleased over the use of Starlink in Ukraine. 

Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said: "This is the West that we should never trust.

"When Russia implements its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, Elon Musk appears with his Starlink which was previously declared as purely civilian. I warned about it, but our "muskophiles" said he is the light of world cosmonautics.

"Here, look, he has chosen the side."

To add salt in the wounds, the Starlink app became the most-downloaded in Ukraine earlier this week. 

Late last month, the Tesla boss rushed to help the country amid its ongoing invasion by Russia by deploying a number of Starlink terminals, which provide access to SpaceX's satellite internet.

On Sunday (13 March), Sensor Tower, which provides App Store and Google Play data, told the Wall Street Journal that the app has been downloaded nearly 100,000 times in Ukraine, with global downloads more than tripling in the last two weeks. 

The firm revealed it broke the record for the most global installs in a single day, a majority of which were from inside Ukraine. 

The SpaceX billionaire supplied the additional Starlink terminals, which arrived in only two days, after Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov pleaded with the tech genius to step in. 

Fedorov wrote on Twitter: "@elonmusk, while you try and colonize Mars - Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space - Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!

"We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand", he added, to which Musk replied: "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route."

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information