Elon Musk’s Starlink Pulls USAID Under Fire Amid Terminal Mismanagement In Ukraine: Report

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has come under criticism for reportedly failing to monitor the use of Elon Musk‘s Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine.

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USAID Lost Track of Thousands of Starlink Terminals In Ukraine

The USAID’s internal watchdog reported that the agency did not effectively track the 5,175 Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, with almost half ending up in regions fully or partially under Russian control, as per the report dated August 11 that was reviewed by Reuters. The agency reportedly accepted a higher risk of misuse due to the “complex wartime environment” and Ukraine’s urgent need for the terminals, leading to a lack of oversight.

The watchdog report concluded that USAID failed to “fully mitigate” the risk of terminal misuse, and more than half of the “active” units were located in territories “fully or partially occupied” by Russia.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, USAID teamed up with Musk’s SpaceX to supply terminals to Ukraine, ensuring vital civilian services and internet access. The agency delivered 1,508 purchased terminals and 3,667 donated units to Kyiv. The report found that the agency did not fully mitigate the risk of misuse, with over half of the “active” units present in Russian-occupied territories.

However, the report did not examine whether the terminals were employed for military activities, including drone operations or artillery targeting.

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Starlink Milestone Clouded By Musk’s Ukraine Controversy

Interestingly, this report comes in the wake of Starlink’s successful test of technology that could revolutionize mobile connectivity across Ukraine, a significant milestone for Musk’s space venture. 

 However, this achievement is overshadowed by a past incident where Musk allegedly ordered a Starlink shutdown during Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia in 2022, affecting the conflict’s outcome.

Earlier in March, Musk had a public disagreement with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski over Starlink’s role in Ukraine. Musk claimed that Starlink was the ‘backbone of the Ukrainian army’ and that the front line would collapse if he chose to deactivate the system.

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