"Starlink was barred from turning on satellite beams in Crimea at the time, because doing so would violate US sanctions against Russia!
We received an unexpected request in the middle of the night to activate Starlink in Crimea in a matter of a few hours from the Ukraine government, but received no request or permission to override sanctions from the US government. Had we done as Ukraine asked, it would have been a felony violation of US law.
We also make it clear in our terms of use that Starlink is a commercial system, not a military system. Use of Starlink for communications, including military communications, is fine, just like the military uses the Internet in general, but if we deliberately engage in explicit acts of war, then we are making Starlink a military system and other countries have every right to shoot down our satellites.
"Starlink was barred from turning on satellite beams in Crimea at the time, because doing so would violate US sanctions against Russia!
We received an unexpected request in the middle of the night to activate Starlink in Crimea in a matter of a few hours from the Ukraine government, but received no request or permission to override sanctions from the US government. Had we done as Ukraine asked, it would have been a felony violation of US law.
We also make it clear in our terms of use that Starlink is a commercial system, not a military system. Use of Starlink for communications, including military communications, is fine, just like the military uses the Internet in general, but if we deliberately engage in explicit acts of war, then we are making Starlink a military system and other countries have every right to shoot down our satellites.
https://wired.com/story/us-navy-starlink-sea2/