American billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has imposed a limit on the speed of Starlink internet in Ukraine. Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Wednesday that this decision has affected many operations of the Ukrainian army fighting against Russia. According to him, the army was not informed about this change in advance. A Ukrainian Defense Ministry official also confirmed the disruption in connectivity. The special thing is that Musk wants to start this Starlink service in India. Recently he had accused the Indian government of discrimination regarding this. However, the government has denied the allegations. Starlink is also useful in stopping Russian drones. Starlink provides internet through satellites in space. The Ukrainian army uses it to maintain communication between soldiers and to operate drones remotely. Russian targets are attacked with these drones. According to consultant Serhiy, with the help of Starlink, such drones are also operated which try to stop Russia’s new jet engine drones in the air. Earlier in February, Musk had shut down Starlink for the Russian military. Due to this, Russia had trouble fighting in Ukraine and the coordination between its commanders and soldiers had deteriorated. According to Zelensky’s advisor Serhiy, Starlink’s internet is slowing down when running at a speed of more than 160 km per hour. He expressed apprehension that this decision may be related to the current political situation. However, he did not give much information about it. BBC quoted a Ukrainian Defense Ministry official as saying that slow internet speed is causing problems in delivering military supplies, operating drones and carrying out attack missions. Poland asked Musk – are you doing politics? Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski asked Musk whether he is doing politics through his product. Poland funds the Starlink service on behalf of Ukraine. Musk did not immediately respond to this. SpaceX also did not give a statement on this matter. Musk is a close ally of US President Trump. In such a situation, Ukraine fears that America may reduce its aid in the war to put pressure on it to make a deal with Russia. Sources told several media organizations, including Reuters, that the US had threatened to stop providing intelligence to Ukraine that provided advance information about Russian missile attacks. This pressure was created to stop Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries. 6 lakh people left without electricity due to Russian attacks According to President Zelensky, at least 6 lakh people in Ukraine are forced to live without electricity after Russia’s missile and drone attacks. Russia targeted electricity facilities in the capital Kiev and its surrounding areas. According to local officials, three people died in Kiev. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired 39 missiles and 128 drones overnight. Of these, four missiles and 115 drones were shot down. At the same time, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that 902 Ukrainian drones were shot down in different areas of Russia overnight. These also include drones dropped over Moscow and Crimea. Crimea was occupied by Russia in 2014. Attacks continue even after Trump’s ceasefire claim US President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacks on energy targets. This ban was to come into effect immediately, but the attacks continued. Zelensky had said that Ukraine would stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and other energy targets if Russia did the same. Zelensky alleged that the Trump administration had threatened to stop providing intelligence to Ukraine if a ceasefire was not agreed upon. Trump denied the allegation on Tuesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine is not entitled to relief from the ceasefire. He expressed apprehension that during this period European countries may provide more weapons to Ukraine. Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022. At present, about 20% of Ukraine’s area is under the control of Russia. Musk wants to start Starlink in India also. The news of reducing the speed of Starlink in Ukraine has come at a time when Musk wants to start the same internet service in India also. The specialty of Starlink is that it provides internet through satellites in space instead of internet cables laid on the ground or mobile towers. With this, internet can be provided to those villages, hilly areas and remote places where there is no mobile network or broadband facility. Musk has talked about bringing cheap plans in India. He says that with the entry of the new company, competition among internet companies will increase and customers will benefit from it. In India, Starlink will compete with companies like Reliance Jio and Airtel. These companies are providing internet services at lower prices than before. Therefore, the success of Starlink in India will also depend on the price at which it provides internet to the customers. Approvals are still required to start the service in India. The Government of India has given licenses for satellite internet service to Jio Satcom, Airtel’s subsidiary Eutelsat OneWeb and Starlink. But the service cannot be started just by getting the license. For this, it is also necessary to get security related approvals and fix the price of radio frequency used to provide internet through satellite. Starlink’s success in India will depend on how cheap its plans are, how well the network runs and when the company gets all the necessary approvals. Starlink devices were found in Andaman and Manipur In 2024, Indian agencies found Starlink devices during the investigation of drugs smuggling in Andaman and Nicobar and during an army operation in Manipur. At that time Musk had said that Starlink service was never started in India. He claimed that the equipment found could not have used Starlink’s satellite network. Starlink equipment consists of a dish, Wi-Fi router, power cable and a stand to mount the dish. To use the internet, the dish is kept at a place from where the sky is clearly visible. The company’s mobile app helps in setting it up and viewing network status. Stopping speed in Ukraine raised questions on Starlink. Stopping the speed of Starlink in Ukraine has raised the question that when the army is dependent on the internet service of a private company, then how much impact can the technical decisions of the company have on its work. In India, Starlink can be used mainly to provide connectivity to areas deprived of internet facility. Therefore, the case of Ukraine does not mean that a similar situation will arise in India also. But this definitely shows that as the dependence on the technology of satellite internet companies increases, the importance of their decisions also increases. ———————— Also read this news… Why Israel wants to fight against Houthi rebels: Netanyahu sent message of help through America, Saudi denied. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Saudi Arabia for permission to involve Israel in the fight against Houthis. According to a report in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Netanyahu has sent this proposal to Saudi Arabia through America. Read the full news here…
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