After Patriot, Ukraine Seeks Trump’s Strategic Nod. Musk-backed Starlink Comes Into Play

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is redefining the trajectory of the war with Russia.Zelenskyy has reportedly sought the assistance of a new ally to counter Russia, urging US President Donald Trump to facilitate Elon Musk-backed Starlink’s backing for guiding Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory.

The development comes as Russia continues pounding of Ukraine, with Moscow launching a barrage of ballistic missiles, reportedly killing at least nine people and injuring more than two dozen.

This is the second such offensive by Moscow in a week, the Associated Press reported.
In a pitch to Trump during his meeting this week in Washington, Zelenskyy sought the US President’s help to get Musk’s backing to use his Starlink satellite communications system for guided strikes inside Russia.

Russia has stepped up ballistic missile attacks after reports that Kyiv is seeking US Patriot air defense systems. The latest move by Zelenskyy is aimed at carrying out more strikes inside Russia through the expanded use of Starlink.

Ukraine is reportedly in short supply of the interceptors mainly as the US focus is in the Middle East conflict with Iran.

The move also assumes significance as Trump is reportedly not fully committed to his earlier offer to share production licence to Ukraine, Financial Times reported.

“It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and we have to be a little bit careful of who we license to,” the president told the Financial Times on Thursday.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump had said the US will give Ukraine authorization to develop Patriot missiles in the country as it faces shortages of weapons capable of intercepting Russian missile strikes.

Zelenskyy’s latest request to Trump to facilitate Musk’s backing was directly put forth to the President in an Oval Office meeting.

The Ukraine president also told US lawmakers backing his country in its war against Russia that he wanted Starlink to help with targeting Russia from inside the country. Trump has not made any commitment on the issue.

Though Musk has allowed Ukraine to use Starlink inside its own territory, including in Ukrainian regions occupied by the Russians, the use of the satellite system inside Russia has not been made available to Ukraine. Zelenskyy’s attempt is to secure this.

Ukraine’s strategic pursual of the the case for expanded use of Starlink has been on for several weeks.

The White House, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and officials at SpaceX, which owns Starlink, did not comment on Zelenskyy’s reported request, according to the AP report.

Ukraine’s request to Trump to use Musk’s Starlink to target ballistic-missile launchers inside Russia was first reported by The Atlantic.

It is not clear if Musk-backed Starlink is in favor of the idea. An AP report in December said intelligence reports from two NATO countries indicated the possibility that Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon to target Musk’s Starlink.

Russia’s reported plans include unleashing destructive orbiting clouds of shrapnel. It is intended to combat the Western space superiority that Moscow believed has boosted Ukraine on the battlefield.

Russia reportedly believes Starlink’s thousands of low-orbiting satellites have been instrumental in Ukraine powerful resistance against Russia’s full-scale invasion. The conflict began in February 2022.