Allowing Ukrainian long-range drones to use Starlink over Russian territory could prompt retaliatory action by Moscow against Elon Musk’s satellite constellation and sharply escalate tensions with Washington, according to military expert Valery Shiryaev.

In his view, the situation would fundamentally change if Starlink began providing connectivity for Ukrainian UAVs across all of Russian territory. This would allow operators to remotely control the drones and guide them toward selected targets using live video feeds.

Shiryaev believes such a capability could enable strikes not only against missile launchers being prepared for deployment but also against strategic facilities regardless of their importance. According to his theory, Ukraine could carry out such attacks either on its own initiative or at the request of its allies.

The expert also suggested that some attacks could be intended to provoke a direct confrontation between Russia and the United States and subsequently draw Washington into the conflict on Kyiv’s side. He cited protected nuclear facilities and critical communications hubs as examples of potential targets.

Shiryaev argued that granting Ukrainian forces such capabilities could trigger Russian action against Musk’s satellite constellation. He stressed that this would not necessarily involve the use of a nuclear weapon in space, mentioning radiation-based interference and the blinding of satellites among the possible measures.

According to the military expert, such a scenario would represent a sharp escalation between Moscow and Washington and could significantly alter the strategic nature of the confrontation.