Washington: The US Agency for International Development did not monitor the use of 5,175 starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, with almost half -operating units ending completely or partially organized by Moscow, according to a report by the agency’s internal guards.
The Inspector General of the USAID found that the agency Elon Musk’s satellite failed to monitor the terminals of the Internet service as it had a “complex war -time environment” and Ukraine’s immediate misuse for immediate misuse for them.
“As a result, the USAID did not know where the terminals were or how they were used,” the August 11 report stated that the review was reviewed by Reuters.
In response, the USAID stated that it was impractical to track the terminals once, when they were handed over to Ukraine due to the “unprecedented Emergency” created by Russian attacks on dangerous warfare situations and communication systems.
A USAID letter included in the report said, “The primary objective was to restore life-saving connectivity for important public services, such as healthcare, municipal emergency shelter and local rule,” USAID letter said.
The findings were first reported by Bloomberg.
The report did not check the use of terminals for Ukraine’s military operations, including drone flights, artillery targets and communications.
After Russia’s full -scale invasion in February 2022, the USAID participated with Musk’s SpaceX company, which was to provide 5,175 starlink terminals to Ukraine to maintain important civil services and internet connectivity.
The report stated that USAID gave KYIV to 1,508 terminals, which he bought and 3,667 units donated by SpaceX.
It was found that the USAID did not “completely reduce” the risk of misuse of terminals, and that the “active” units had more than half of the areas that Russia had completely or partially captured. “
The report did not explain how the terminals ended in the areas they had or objectives for whom they were used.
Kiev alleged last year that Russian -occupied soldiers were using thousands of starlink terminals received from private Russian firms, allegations denied by Kremlin and by Musk. – Reuters
