Dmitri Medvedev accuses Elon Musk of becoming a participant in the war in Ukraine by providing Starlink services

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, accused Elon Musk of becoming a “participant in the war” after making the Starlink satellite communications service available to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

In a message posted on Telegram, Medvedev claimed that the American billionaire had known from the outset that his technology was being used for military purposes and that, among other things, it had allegedly supported attacks on civilian targets. The Russian official rejected the argument that Starlink is a commercial service separate from Starshield, the system intended for military use, asserting that this distinction does not absolve Musk of responsibility.

The statements came after Musk reposted a message describing the free transfer of thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine as a mistake. The message said that the service, initially provided for civilian internet access, had become infrastructure for autonomous drones.

The dispute escalated after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Musk’s positions on the war. In October, amid malfunctions in the system used by Ukrainian forces, Musk accused Kyiv of violating the service’s rules. Ukrainian officials denied using Starlink in attack operations. On October 23, Donald Trump announced that Kyiv’s access to Starlink and Starshield had been restored.