"Had a personal conversation": Fedorov shared details of communication with Musk regarding the disconnection of Starlink to the occupiers

How Ukraine managed to persuade Elon Musk to disconnect communication for the Russians, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told in an interview for the YouTube channel PRESSING.

The head of the ministry said that shortly after his appointment he had a personal conversation with Elon Musk. According to him, the situation in Ukraine in winter was extremely difficult due to massive Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

In addition to the task of building an effective air defense system, an additional challenge was the enemy’s active use of Shahed-type drones, which were controlled via Starlink.

Under these conditions, Fedorov noted, it was necessary to quickly establish communication with SpaceX. According to the minister, cooperation gradually became systematic and he directly approached Musk, after which the latter offered to hold a conversation in the format of a video call.

Fedorov did not disclose the details of this conversation, but noted that the established contacts helped Ukraine strengthen communications and gain certain technological advantages in the war.

Regarding Russian analogues of Starlink, the minister noted that the Ministry of Defence closely monitors the enemy’s new developments, in particular the "Rassvet" project. He expressed doubt about Russia’s rapid achievement of results in the field of satellite communications, but stressed that Ukraine must be prepared for this challenge as well.

Of course, it is necessary to forecast what will happen next. If we want to continue to maintain the initiative and win in every technical cycle – we need to know what the Russians are doing, what they are talking about, where they are investing – so we are monitoring,
– Fedorov emphasized.

Fedorov noted that the enemy has already launched the first satellites into orbit and added that Russia plans to gradually scale them up.

At the same time, according to him, creating a full-fledged satellite network is a long and complex process that takes years. Currently, Russia is partially compensating for the lack of developed infrastructure by using Mesh networks and controlled drones, in particular Shaheds.

The Ukrainian side, in turn, is working to counter these solutions, including separate operations to destroy the relevant networks and communication systems. The minister also added that Ukraine is developing a number of technological solutions that the Russian army will face in the near future.