Ukraine is seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers up to 200km inside Russia as Kyiv faces a severe shortage of air-defence interceptors, according to people familiar with the matter, Financial Times reports.
The move would require approval from Elon Musk, whose stance towards Ukraine and its use of his satellite internet service has oscillated. Another potential obstacle is that the man in Kyiv with a direct line to Musk, former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, was recently fired. Ukraine’s request comes as it struggles to counter intensifying Russian missile and drone strikes. Ballistic missiles pose the biggest challenge, with Kyiv running short of Patriot interceptors, the only system Ukraine has used to reliably shoot them down.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded with Trump and Ukraine’s other partners to provide more interceptors, but their use in the Middle East, including during the US war with Iran, has deepened a global shortage of the American-made missiles.
Even in the best case, said Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst based in Vienna, Ukraine was unlikely to receive enough interceptors in time to maintain its current air-defence strategy, which he described as “essentially trying to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles”.
Russia has increased missile and drone production, leaving Ukraine needing hundreds of Patriot interceptors to last through to the end of the year. Kyiv is seeking a way around that constraint by requesting approval to use Starlink on its own attack drones to strike key Russian targets across the border more accurately.
“How can Ukraine engage in a more proactive, shooting-the-archer strategy?” Gady asked, referring to an effort to destroy the launchers, command systems, logistics and other assets that enable the attacks. Starlink-enabled drones use SpaceX’s satellite network to maintain stronger connections with operators over longer distances than conventional radio links, while making them less vulnerable to ordinary jamming. Such drones have already proven effective on the battlefield inside Ukraine. If they can be deployed beyond the border, said Gady, they “could be very useful in hunting” Russian missile launchers.
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