Ukraine's military intelligence agency on Sunday said it had intercepted radio traffic that confirms Russia's use of the terminals, which provide broadband internet access via a constellation of low-orbit satellites. "Yes, there have been recorded cases of the Russian occupiers using these devices," Ukrainian intelligence officer Andriy Yusov told RBC-Ukraine. "This is starting to take on a systemic nature."

Starlink, a product of Elon Musk's SpaceX, has been used by the Ukrainian military since Musk enabled the service in the country soon after Russia invaded in 2022. It's been considered a strategic advantage for Ukraine, which has used the high-speed service for secure communication and for running targeting and other military software. 

On Friday, Defense One was first to report on the development. In addition to insights from Ukrainian sources, the report included a screenshot from Ukrainian drone video that seems to show the distinctive profile of a Starlink terminal on a targeted Russian position.  

Meanwhile, KatyaVayla, a Russian volunteer group based in the contested Donbas region, posted a video on Telegram in which it proudly displayed five Starlink terminals it procured for the Russian military: