Nolan Zhu | Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, US/CN
Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability sent a letter to SpaceX inquiring about the technology company’s potential relationship with Russia. The Wednesday letter stems from allegations that Russia may be using Starlink internet satellites, produced by American-owned SpaceX, in its ongoing war against Ukraine, potentially violating US sanctions.
In the letter to SpaceX’s President Gwynne Shotwell, lawmakers expressed grave concerns regarding the illicit use of Starlink terminals by Russian forces in occupied Ukrainian regions. The lawmakers claimed, “Russia has sought to evade these sanctions” through the use of SpaceX’s Starlink technology. Specifically, the lawmakers pointed to “intercepted audio communications between Russian soldiers that indicated Russian forces had illegally deployed and activated Starlink terminals in certain Russian-occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine.”
The lawmakers claimed that such use of the technology violates sanctions and export laws imposed upon Russia by the US. The lawmakers went on to explain, “Russia’s misuse of Starlink terminals outside Russia’s internationally recognized borders poses a serious threat to Ukraine’s security, Ukrainian lives, and U.S. national security.”
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