Ukrainian sapper units have discovered that Russian military forces placed additional booby trap charges on Starlink terminals used on Molniya strike UAVs.

Specialized Mines and Coffee with Sandwiches! Telegram channel reported on this.

The military said that the extra charge was found on a Molniya UAV equipped with a Starlink terminal, which was safely neutralized about 40 km from the front line.

The main combat unit did not activate and detached upon impact. It consisted of two small-caliber Soviet-era PTAB-2.5KO anti-tank aerial bombs with EDP-R electronic detonators, and the target sensor was a blue Chinese proximity fuse.

Additionally, the design includes a backup method to disable the Starlink terminal if the main warhead fails to activate. It consisted of a 75g TNT block with a VZD-3M fuse and an MD-5M detonator.

“A perfect example that even a downed drone does not always mean a safe trophy,” military personnel emphasized.

It is reported that Russia organized a supply chain for American Starlink terminals by fraudulently declaring products and falsifying product certification records. Despite official statements from SpaceX denying sales to Russia, the enemy successfully utilizes this extensive system of “parallel imports” and account activations through third countries.

The number of terminals imported this way is so large that the Russians have started installing Starlink terminals on UAVs. For example, in December 2025, it was confirmed that Starlink was being used on the Molniya-2R UAV, which was also featured on the official Defense Intelligence of Ukraine project account.