President of Finland asks Musk to allow Ukraine to use Starlink for strikes on Russia

President of Finland Alexander Stubb has called on Elon Musk to allow Ukraine to use Starlink satellite communications in areas where Russian ballistic missile launchers are located, including on Russian territory.

According to Reuters, Stubb believes that expanding access to Starlink in the occupied territories of Ukraine and in Russia could help Ukrainian forces target ballistic missile launchers and reduce the number of Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Currently, the Ukrainian military actively uses Starlink for communications and drone operations, but the network's use on Russian territory is limited. Kyiv has been trying to change this over the past few months.

President Volodymyr Zelensky again raised the issue of expanding Starlink capabilities during his latest meeting with US President Donald Trump in New York. As reported by "Kurs Ukrainy", the Ukrainian side asked to allow the use of the satellite system for strikes on military targets on Russian territory. According to Newsmax, Trump replied that this issue should be discussed directly with SpaceX owner Elon Musk.

Ukraine has made such a request before. Back in July, Zelensky met with Trump at the White House and asked the US president to speak with Musk about using Starlink for Ukrainian strike drones. Among the potential targets were mobile ballistic missile launchers, command posts, and logistics infrastructure that supports Russian strikes.

In August, it was reported that Ukraine had not managed to obtain SpaceX's consent to expand the system's usage area. Starlink remains available to Ukrainian forces on Ukrainian-controlled territory, but its use for operations directly in Russia is limited. Finnish public broadcaster Yle also confirms that Starlink connectivity for Ukraine on Russian territory is currently unavailable.

Stubb's appeal came amid a shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems in Ukraine. The idea is to complement missile defense with the ability to destroy some Russian ballistic systems before their missiles are launched.

Finland has recently been strengthening defense cooperation with Ukraine. On September 23, Stubb and Zelensky signed an agreement in New York on deepening cooperation in defense and security. It includes technology exchange and joint drone projects.

Earlier, Musk stated that he does not intend to completely shut off Starlink for the Ukrainian military, despite his disagreements with Kyiv's policies. At the same time, throughout the war, SpaceX has maintained technical restrictions on the system's use in certain geographic areas and for some military operations.

According to materials from: Reuters, Kurs Ukrainy, Office of the President of Finland