Two residents of Mykolaiv were taken into custody for activating Starlink for Russia

In Mykolaiv, two young men were charged with treason for registering Starlink terminals for Russian occupiers in exchange for money. The young men were taken into custody without the right to post bail.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The men face up to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

According to the case file, the two young men, aged 18 and 22, agreed to carry out tasks for a representative of the Russian Federation in exchange for monetary compensation. In June 2026, they registered one of the Starlink terminals through a postal operator in Mykolaiv. The men reported this to their Russian “supervisor” and expressed their willingness to continue cooperating.

In total, they facilitated the activation of more than 10 satellite terminals. 

Law enforcement officials determined that the equipment was located in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast and was intended for use by the Russian military. Currently, SBU officers have blocked all terminals registered to Russian armed groups.

As reported by Intent, an engineer at a defense enterprise in the Mykolaiv region was previously convicted of treason. He passed on information about air defense systems, military facilities, and defense contracts to Russian intelligence agencies. To maintain secrecy, they communicated via Telegram and a specially configured digital channel with a feature that automatically deletes messages after they are read.

Юлія Калабайда