GENICHESK, February 1. /TASS/. Servicemen of the battlegroup Dnepr have destroyed a Starlink satellite communication terminal of the Ukrainian forces in the Kherson area with a Lancet loitering munition, Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo said.

"Over the past day, servicemen of the battlegroup Dnepr continued to hit the enemy with all types of firepower. In the seaside (Kherson) area, artillery destroyed an ammunition depot, a UAV launcher, and an AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery station. Lancets destroyed or hit three tanks, an armored fighting vehicle, three artillery positions, a UAV launcher, and a Starlink terminal," he said on Telegram.

Saldo added that FPV-drones and munition drops from drones destroyed a boat and three temporary bases of Ukrainian troops.

Bloomberg reported in June 2023 that Elon Musk's SpaceX had signed a contract with the Pentagon to provide satellite communications services to Ukraine through Starlink terminals. The value of the deal and the number of terminals were not disclosed at the time.

In late February 2022, Musk announced that he had opened access to his Starlink global satellite communications system in Ukraine and sent terminals there. In mid-October, Musk said the company could not indefinitely finance Starlink's operations in Ukraine, but later said it would continue to pay for the communications system despite financial losses. Ukraine said in December of the same year that the country had received 22,000 Starlink terminals since February and expected to receive another 10,000.