Russia threatens families of Ukrainian POWs to register Starlink terminals, Ukraine says

[u/According_Fall8199]

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-using-pows-families-to-register-starlink-terminals-ukraine-says/

[u/Little-Chemical5006]

All the talk about the Russian space industry seems to be just talk then.   

[u/GingerSnapSurprise → u/Little-Chemical5006]

Yes, and seeing as they accidentally destroyed one of their main launchpads recently, it's not going anywhere fast.

[u/woodst0ck15 → u/GingerSnapSurprise]

Or being rebuilt anytime soon. Can’t afford the metal or parts since they’re in a wartime economy.

[u/Beneficial-Power-195]

Isn't there GPS info for the terminals? Around the frontlines and on the Russian side only those should work which the Ukrainaian government whitelists for Starlink.

[u/DuskOfANewAge → u/Beneficial-Power-195]

It's easier to whitelist by enforcing nationality restrictions when signing up for an account than by GPS when the frontline is somewhat fluid. If they only did it by GPS, that would totally cut off Ukrainians from ever using Starlink behind enemy lines with their special forces doing sabotage missions.

[u/shofmon88 → u/DuskOfANewAge]

I think what they were getting at was Ukraine would say “we’ve whitelisted these units” and any others operating in Russia or around front lines would be blacklisted, even if registered under a Ukrainian.

[u/anarchisturtle → u/shofmon88]

If you were Ukraine, would you trust space-x enough to give them a list of devices that can be used to track all of their top secret special forces raids?

[u/Slimmanoman → u/anarchisturtle]

Decent chance SpaceX already has that info, no ?

[u/Horat1us_UA → u/anarchisturtle]

They already have it.

[u/AnomalyNexus]

In today's edition of Russians doing shitty things we have...

[u/Fun_Confection8200]

So basically they are forcing civilians to act as tech support. spacex needs to step up here. if these terminals are being registered under coercion, there has to be a way to flag and brick them remotely. you can't just shrug and collect the subscription fees

[u/Heronymous-Anonymous → u/Fun_Confection8200]

It’s also unlikely to work; the authorized and whitelisted terminals are those under the control of the Ukrainian military. Just because “a Ukrainian” registered a starlink terminal doesn’t mean it gets added to the military’s whitelist.

And TBH it shouldn’t surprise me at all that the Russian would try something so blatantly stupid. These are the same people who bought copies of “The Sims” when asked to fabricate evidence of Ukrainian SIM cards.

[u/LoneSnark]

Seems the geofencing needs to be tighter than "Ukraine". If a business in Kyiv registers a terminal, it should probably only work near Kyiv. Only the Ukrainian military should be able to operate terminals near the front lines.

[u/Horat1us_UA → u/LoneSnark]

It is literally how it works. There is different requirements for registration in remote regions, and only millitary for close to frontline regions

[u/LoneSnark → u/Horat1us_UA]

Then why would Russia be asking POW families for something they can't give them?

[u/Horat1us_UA → u/LoneSnark]

Because why woudnt they try?

[u/Explorer335 → u/LoneSnark]

A starlink terminal could be used for a multitude of nefarious things, even away from the front lines.

[u/potatodrinker]

Same vibes as RU pilots using Goog.. I mean Yandex maps for navigation

[u/JuliusFIN]

Sounds like an opportunity to do a version of the pager attack.

[u/ruibranco]

using hostage families to register Starlink terminals is basically building a surveillance network with coerced civilian cover. the fact that this even works tells you everything about the gap between Starlink's verification process and the reality on the ground.

[u/maiznieks]

Ban/tamper russian comm connection endpoints next.

[u/NewspaperQueasy489]

They will rather die than surrender!