Occupiers are blackmailing the families of prisoners of war by demanding they register Starlink terminals in their names

“Dear families! Once again, the enemy is using the relatives and loved ones of Ukrainian prisoners of war as a tool for manipulation,” says a statement from the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. “The Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with SpaceX engineers, has successfully disabled illegal Starlink terminals... Seeking an escape from their tough situation, the occupiers focused on the families of the captives. There have been documented cases of threats against family members, accompanied by demands to register Starlink terminals in their names in Ukraine legally. These devices will then be used against Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

Remember that, under an agreement with Elon Musk, the Ukrainian military began using Starlink in 2022. This provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a significant advantage, enabling them to coordinate their efforts and keep reliable communications on the front lines. However, since the end of 2023, Russians have also started to use Starlink systems more actively. At the end of January, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov revealed during the “Army of Drones — 2025” event that the enemy had begun equipping drones with Starlink systems. The Institute for the Study of War had also reported on this earlier.

“Russian drones fitted with Starlink terminals are hard to shoot down. They fly at low altitudes, resist electronic warfare, and are controlled in real time by an operator even from long distances,” Fedorov explained on his Telegram channel. “The only technical solution to counter these drones is to introduce a ‘white list’ and legally register all terminals. At the Ukrainian government’s initiative, we are deploying this solution in partnership with SpaceX.” The next step, according to the minister, will be to implement a system that allows only authorized terminals to operate on Ukrainian territory.

On February 1, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX had halted Russia’s unauthorized use of the Starlink internet service.

The disconnection of unauthorized Starlink terminals has already yielded tangible benefits on the front lines. “For several days, we observed a decline in the use of large enemy UAVs. Nothing has changed for UAVs with a smaller range. Still, it is clear that the disconnection of Starlink terminals and the lack of communication have caused some disruption in their troop control,” Suspilnyi Donbas quotes Maxim Butolin, chief sergeant of the 54th Brigade named after Hetman Ivan Mazepa.

In this situation, Russia is urgently seeking Ukrainian citizens who, for money or through intimidation and blackmail, would agree to register enemy Starlink terminals in their name. Especially, they are prepared to exploit the vulnerabilities of Ukrainians whose relatives are held in captivity.

The Coordination Headquarters emphasizes that such “cooperation” with the enemy is dangerous: “Official registration of an enemy terminal makes it easy to identify who did it because you must prove your identity during the registration process... If this terminal is used to control drones that destroy infrastructure and take lives, the fact that a Ukrainian citizen registered it provides grounds for criminal prosecution.” If you receive such illegal offers or threats from Russians, you should promptly contact the Coordination Headquarters and law enforcement agencies.

We have already written about how Russian special services are trying to use prisoners of war’s families to commit criminal acts, including terrorist attacks, sabotage, and murders.

The KHPG lawyers strongly advise their clients not to give in to intimidation or commit crimes. Tamila Bespala, who leads the organization’s Kharkiv office, explained what relatives of prisoners of war should do if they receive a message from the Russian side offering “cooperation.” It’s important to save this correspondence—take screenshots and download voice messages. Given this evidence, they should contact law enforcement agencies, which can safely continue “communicating” with the enemy, find out the fate of the prisoner, and determine whether the person writing from the Russian side actually has access to the individual who is likely in captivity. After all, it’s not unusual for families to receive calls not from Russian special services but from scammers or Wagner Group operatives who simply gather personal information from Ukrainian sites dedicated to missing persons.

“It is important to remember that even if a person commits a serious crime under duress and blackmail, they will end up behind bars,” noted Tamila Bespala. “From the human perspective, everyone understands that a person is capable of anything to stop the torture of their husband, son, or brother. But the law remains the law.”