The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has failed to monitor the use of 5,175 Starlink devices transferred to Ukraine, leaving nearly half of the devices in operation in areas under full or partial Russian control. This is the result of a report by an internal inspectorate of USAID.
The report said that USAID is not tracking the location and purpose of Elon Musk's satellite Internet devices because it recognizes high risks in the context of complex conflict and urgent needs from Ukraine. After Russia launched a large-scale attack in February 2022, USAID cooperated with Musk's SpaceX company to provide these devices to maintain essential civil services and connect to the Internet.
USAID has handed Kiev over 1,508 equipment purchased by the agency and 3,667 equipment donated by SpaceX. The main goal is to restore connectivity to serve health care, emergency shelters and local management. However, the report said that USAID did not compleately reduce the risk of equipment being used for the wrong purpose.
The report did not investigate whether Ukraine used the devices for military operations such as controlling drones, directing artillery or communicating. The document also does not clearly explain how more than half of the devices are operating in areas controlled by Russia, who own them or for what purposes they are used.
