Ukraine asked Elon Musk to allow Starlink use for strikes up to 200 kilometers deep into Russian territory

Kyiv is seeking Elon Musk's permission to use Starlink-enabled drones for attacks on ballistic missile launch infrastructure within Russian territory up to 200 km away, writes the Financial Times, citing sources. If approved, six regional centers within internationally recognized borders could fall within the strike zone.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Donald Trump to speak with Musk about obtaining such permission during a White House meeting in July, sources present at the meeting told the newspaper. Kyiv believed that limiting the depth of drone launches might incentivize Musk to agree, writes FT.

However, Trump did not immediately give a clear answer, said sources present at the meeting. The newspaper's interlocutors believe that the American president did not support this plan, and Musk will not give his approval to Kyiv.

Another obstacle could be that Ukraine's former Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov, who had a direct connection with Musk, was dismissed, writes FT. It was after Fedorov's request that Musk blocked the use of Starlink by Russian military personnel, which, according to Ukrainian military and officials, quickly impacted Russian attacks.

Large Russian cities, including Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don, and Krasnodar, fall within 200 km of the internationally recognized border between Russia and Ukraine, notes "Agentstvo".

By obtaining permission to use Starlink-enabled drones, Kyiv is trying to solve a problem that arose due to the shortage of Patriot interceptors—the only system that allows Ukrainian military personnel to successfully shoot down ballistic missiles, writes FT. Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told the newspaper that Ukraine could shift to a more active defense strategy aimed at destroying launchers, control systems, logistics, and other assets that enable missile attacks.

Starlink-enabled drones use satellites to maintain more reliable communication with operators over greater distances than conventional UAVs, the newspaper writes. They are also less vulnerable to interference. They "can be very useful in hunting" launchers, says Gady.

The Atlantic first reported in late July that Ukraine wanted to use Starlink for strikes on Russian territory. In early August, Fedorov, who was no longer Minister of Defense, said in a podcast with blogger Serhiy Sternenko that he was continuing negotiations with Musk about using Starlink in the Russian rear, but called achieving the result Kyiv needed a difficult task.

The deficit of Patriot missiles has left Ukraine virtually defenseless against Russian ballistic missiles. Against this backdrop, Ukraine has even stopped publishing data on the number of missiles launched by Russia.

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