Finnish President Alexander Stubb has publicly asked SpaceX owner Elon Musk to extend Starlink satellite internet coverage in Ukraine into areas inside Russia where ballistic missile launchers are based. Stubb made the appeal in an interview in New York on Thursday, according to Voice of Nigeria, the Nigerian state-owned international broadcaster, in a report published on 24 September.
The request lands in the middle of a wider push by Kyiv to widen its use of the network, which news agency Reuters reported last month.
Key facts
- Stubb said access to Starlink in areas holding Russian launchers could help Ukraine target them and that it “would save lives,” Voice of Nigeria reported.
- He referred to both occupied Ukrainian territory and Russia itself, describing the purpose as strategic.
- Starlink does not currently operate over Russian territory, according to Voice of Nigeria.
- Ukraine faces a shortage of air defence systems able to intercept Russian ballistic missiles as winter approaches, the same report said.
- Ukrainian officials believe wider coverage could help them target mobile launchers sitting within several hundred kilometres of the border, Voice of Nigeria reported.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had been told Musk opposed the move as a “major escalation” of the war, but that Ukraine had begun to receive more encouraging feedback, according to Reuters.
Why it matters
Starlink, the low-Earth-orbit broadband service run by US rocket and satellite company SpaceX, is described by Reuters as the lifeblood of Ukraine’s battlefield communications and a tool for piloting drones. Whether that service reaches beyond Ukraine’s own airspace is therefore a decision taken by a private company rather than by a government, and Stubb’s intervention is an attempt by a European head of state to influence it in public.
Zelenskyy has argued that using Starlink over Russian territory could reduce the capabilities Russia is relying on to drag out the war, Reuters reported.
What Finland’s president asked for
Voice of Nigeria reported that Stubb tied his plea directly to Ukraine’s air-defence gap. With winter coming, he said Ukraine needed three things: air defence, energy infrastructure and financial support. The Starlink request sits inside the first of those: if Ukrainian forces cannot shoot down enough incoming ballistic missiles, the alternative being discussed is striking the launchers themselves.
Stubb’s phrasing, as reported, covers occupied Ukrainian territory as well as Russia. Voice of Nigeria did not report any response from Musk or SpaceX to the appeal, and gave no timeline for a decision.
Kyiv’s campaign to widen Starlink use
The Finnish appeal follows a formal push by Ukraine itself. Reuters, in coverage carried by NBC News, The Star and Yahoo News, reported on 26 August that Zelenskyy had awarded Musk the Order of Freedom, one of Ukraine’s top state honours, as Kyiv sought to expand use of the company’s terminals.
In the same reporting, Reuters said Ukraine has asked to use Starlink over Russian territory in order to attack targets including the ballistic missile launchers hitting Ukrainian cities. That is the same request Stubb repeated a month later. Washington has also been drawn in: US President Donald Trump has pointed Kyiv back to Musk himself on the question of strikes inside Russia.
Background: Starlink in the war
Musk switched on Starlink over Ukraine shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Reuters reported. Since then the terminals have carried military communications and supported drone operations, including Starlink-linked drone patrols reported in Crimea.
Access has also been narrowed on the Russian side. Reuters reported that Musk agreed this year to turn off thousands of Russian “grey-market” Starlinks operating in Ukraine, causing problems for Russian forces. That request came from Ukraine’s then-defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who Reuters says was dismissed in July.
The network’s physical infrastructure in the region has drawn attention too, including a fire at a Polish ground station that feeds the service into Ukraine.
What is still unclear
None of the four reports states that SpaceX has agreed to any expansion. Reuters reported only Zelenskyy’s characterisation of the feedback as more encouraging than Musk’s earlier position; the sources give no detail on what changed, who conveyed it, or what any technical arrangement would look like.
The sources also say nothing about the commercial side of the service. There is no mention in any of them of a change to Starlink availability, plans or pricing for ordinary subscribers in Africa or anywhere else — the dispute is confined to military use over Russian-held and Russian territory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Ukraine award Elon Musk the Order of Freedom?
A presidential decree published on Ukraine’s presidential website praised Musk “for outstanding personal contributions to protecting human life and freedom, and for developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America,” according to Reuters. Reuters reported the decree appeared on a Wednesday in late August 2026.
What happened to the Russian “grey-market” Starlink terminals in Ukraine?
Reuters reported that Musk agreed this year to switch off thousands of Russian “grey-market” Starlinks in Ukraine, which caused problems for Russian forces. The request came from former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who Reuters says was dismissed in July.
What ceasefire terms did Alexander Stubb discuss?
Stubb backed an unconditional ceasefire followed by talks on security, territory, reconstruction and compensation, Voice of Nigeria reported. He said the conflict could be frozen along the line of contact with 30-kilometre buffer zones on both sides, and that a partial ceasefire covering energy and grain-related targets was another option.
Does this affect Starlink customers in Africa or Zimbabwe?
None of the source reports mention any change to Starlink’s consumer service, coverage or pricing outside the Ukraine war zone. The requests described by Voice of Nigeria and Reuters concern military use of the network over Russian-held and Russian territory only.
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