28 Mar, 2023 18:41

Ukraine struggles with Starlink troubles

A new problem is affecting Elon Musk’s satellite communication service, on which Kiev depends

Many Starlink users across Ukraine have seen their terminals stop working, the Kiev outlet Strana reported on Tuesday. According to experts who spoke to the outlet, the outage is not some nefarious plan by Elon Musk to harm Ukraine, but the result ofcriminals trying to scam Starlinkparent company SpaceX.

The typical scenario is that a terminal stops working and flashes the message “No active account,” Vladimir Stepanets, founder of a Starlink support group, told Strana. “When they contact SpaceX technical support, the terminal owners are told there were signs of fraudulent activity,” he explained.

SpaceX provided the Kiev government with a number of Starlink terminals beginning in February last year, which Ukraine has used for military communications.Musk has objected to the “weaponization” of his technology, and last monthrestrictedKiev’s ability to use Starlink forremotely controlling drone strikes. When one US senator complained, Musk replied that his company “will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.”

The current problem is not due to some kind of Musk censorship, experts tell Strana, but rather the consequence of scam artists exploiting the flow ofStarlink donations to Ukraine. Because demand for Starlinks has always outpaced their supply, and equipment sold directly by SpaceX costs 30% more than in Poland or Czechia, many “enterprising individuals”buy the terminals there and then resellor donate them to Ukraine.

Stepanets and engineer Oleg Kutkov described the scheme by which the scammers use promotions and discounts to acquire the Starlinks, but then use “chargeback fraud” to not pay SpaceX.

“Starlink can be stolen, bought for a promotion for one euro, or listed for return, and the router that comes with it is resold to Ukraine. Then the person who bought it installs the router, and the account is blocked,” Kutkov told Strana.

Stepanets said “tens of thousands” of terminals were in effect stolen from SpaceX through chargeback fraud,including manyoperated by theUkrainian military.

Ukrainian users have no way of knowing whether their terminal is legitimate or stolen – until it stops working. Because SpaceX blacklists accounts associated with stolen equipment, users also have no way of reloading their subscription balance, while the debt continues to accrue.

Stepanets also warned usersnot to attempt any “life hacks” through the militaryor the Ministry of Digital Development. “This can have bad consequences not only for you, but for the whole country. And it definitely won't work,” he told Strana.

The official representative office of Starlink in Ukraine can’t help anyone either, as it has not yet opened – although the Kiev authorities granted it the required license last summer.

https://www.rt.com/russia/573751-starlink-fraud-ukraine-musk/

>>18596751

I don’t want immortality, I want off this prison planet

>>18596814

Makes sense considering whats happening, who are the 100 countries, china for sure

I believe the shooting is a FF, too many circumstances that make it so,but my real question is why did so many shills come out on the shoe dig?They seem to be desperate.

What’s important about shoes than other proofs? Are there other cases of FFs that include shoes and is it related to the agency that may be involved? How many other cases.

Are the shoes some kind of signal to friendlies, mission accomplished?

Yeah some sick fucks photographed shoes from 911, and pictures of HRCs shoes

>>18597090

I mean immortality in this world, in the heavenly realms I’m cool

(This is hilarious)

28 Mar, 2023 16:23

EU diplomats believe Baltic state ‘hypocritical’ over Ukraine – Politico

Estonia has allegedly been renewing its own weapons arsenal at the bloc's expense while sending old stocks to Kiev’s forces, according to the outlet

A number of EU diplomats are growing increasingly concerned that some member states may haveexploited the European Peace Facility (EPF) fund, which is intended to partially reimburse countries that have sent military aid to Ukraine, Politico reported on Tuesday.

The outlet’s Playbook project claims it spoke to seven EU diplomats and officials, who chose to remain anonymous to discuss classified information. According to them, one country in particular – Estonia – has been accused of using the fund toupgrade its own militaryarsenal at the expense of its EU neighbors while sending its old stocks to Ukraine.

Under the EPF rules, all EU states are set to receive the same rate of reimbursement for what they spend on Ukraine – some 84% of the total price paid. However, as noted by Politico, therearen’t any agreed-upon rulesfor how countries calculate the price of the equipment they send to Kiev.

According to classified data from the EU Foreign Affairs and Defense Department (EEAS) obtained by Playbook, six countries – Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, France and Sweden– are believed to have calculated their reimbursement claims based on thepurchase price of new materials, rather than the value of what they sent to Ukraine.

Estonia has topped the list in absolute terms, Politico claims, citing an overview by the EEAS. The country reportedly received a reimbursement of €134 million after having officially declared spending over €160 million on donations to Ukraine.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is now being accused of “sanctimonious behavior”after she publicly led calls in the EU for increased military support for Ukraine, only to lateruse the EPF to “generously” supporther own army, according to the outlet.

“They are sending theirscraps to Ukraineand buying brand new material for themselves, financed with EU money,” one EU diplomat told Politico.

According to the diplomats, one example of how Estonia manipulated the system was sending old Soviet-made Strela surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine but then citing the price of a modern Stinger missile in the reimbursement claim. “This is also why Estonia’s military support appears to be somuch higher per capitathan that of other countries in the statistics everybody cites,” one diplomat noted.

Estonian officials have rejected the claims made in Politico’s report, with Defense Ministry Secretary General Kusti Salm dismissing them as“malicious slander”meant to slow down support for Ukraine. (Kek, they do it to each other when caught.)

(This was so predictable! It’s hilarious. No one likes or supports Ukraine, at least not enough to send them functioning equipment.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/573752-estonia-ukraine-aid-reimbursement/