Starlink verification could turn into a tool of pressure after the war. How to avoid this

"It's not a problem to verify Starlink," one of the Defense Forces officers told LIGA.net. "The problem is to resolve the legal clash with its further use".The decision to disable unverified Starlink terminals in Ukraine could be a ticking time bomb for the public sector. After the war is over, the lists of thousands of terminals that were distributed to the military, administrations, and agencies without full documentation in 2022-2023 may end up on the desk of auditors and law enforcement.LIGA.net explains why mandatory Starlink verification creates a legal trap for civil servants, how it can turn into an instrument of political pressure, and what needs to be changed now to avoid a wave of cases after the war.Why government agencies are happy about Starlink verification and afraid of itThe Cabinet of Ministers' resolution that makes it mandatory to verify all Starlink satellite terminals operating in Ukraine is considered by all representatives of the Defense Forces to be absolutely necessary.For the Russians, the terminals became a tool for interspecies command and control, allowing them to combine small infantry groups and attack UAVs into one fist, and to support this almost in real time with strikes from CABs and artillery, explains LIGA.net Ivan Kyrychevskyi, a soldier of the 413th Regiment "Reid" and Defense Express weapons expert.At all levels of the Defense Forces – including the Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky – do not hide their joy at the fact that this tool is no longer available to them.However, the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution, in addition to its undoubted benefits, has created a parallel track of problems for all government agencies in Ukraine.From now on, only verified terminals linked to legal users can operate on the network. Therefore, government agencies must submit a list of terminals they use on a daily basis.The military has to do it through the Delta system, while civilians have to do it in Diia. The procedure is slightly different, but the key principle is the same: the responsible manager must submit a list of terminals that work in the interests of the structure he or she represents and digitally sign it.Those who have extensive experience working in government agencies and have been through at least one audit immediately raised a question: "If we regularly report to the state how many Starlink terminals we have, we should put these terminals on the balance sheet."The Ministry of Defense denied that they are not interested in who owns the terminals, on what basis who uses them, and whether they are on the balance sheet. They need to clearly understand which terminals are working in Ukraine's interests and which are working against them. To make it impossible for enemy equipment to operate.We don't need anything on the balance sheet," says Sergey (Flash) Beskrestnov, advisor to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense and communications systems specialist. "If it is, for example, a military man, he confirms through his Delta account that he has a Starlink with such and such a number. We submit this number to the white list for operation in Ukraine.According to Beskrestnov, "these lists will no longer go to commanders or anyone else, no one will take them away or put them on the balance sheet."However, 15 interlocutors LIGA.net from various branches of the military and government agencies argue that there is really no need to put terminals on the balance sheet in order to recognize them on the basis of "friend or foe". This is necessary so that those who use Starlink will not have problems when they are inspected.Military formations and military entities are not always formally called "state institutions" in the popular sense, but legally they are, explains LIGA.net Dmytro Palyushchenko, Head of Business Support Practice at Juscutum Law Firm. This means that they use state resources and have to report their property in the relevant accounting systems.The lists submitted for verification are a ready-made data register that auditors will sooner or later receive. Therefore, all terminals that provide communications to government agencies must be legalized. And the number of working startlinks of each institution should be as close as possible to what the institution has on its balance sheet, explains LIGA.net a representative of one of the state defense structures. At the moment, it seems that almost everyone will have problems with this.There are no documents. What is the problem with putting Starlink terminals on the balance sheet?In 2022, representatives of government agencies (including the military) received terminals as best they could: from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, donors, and volunteers, or bought them themselves. According to their reports, in the first year of the war, Ukrainian government agencies received about 42,000 terminals for their use through the Ministry of Digital Transformation.It looked like this: the Ministry of Digital Transformation called and asked if we needed Starlink. Of course, we need it, so a car arrives, hands over the white boxes, and that's it," describes the situation the head of one of the departments."As a result, I have all the technical documentation for them. But the documents that confirm our right to use the terminal are a complete mess," the source continues, "So now we are submitting lists because we need these terminals. But at the same time, lawyers and accountants have literally lost sleep trying to figure out how to legalize them."Many do not have documents on the right of use, adds another interlocutor. At best, they have acceptance certificates stating that the terminal was accepted for free use. According to the law, each of these documents means potential prosecution.This is because of corruption risks, given Article 54 of the law on the prevention of corruption. It states that state and local governments are prohibited from accepting anything from anyone for free.Despite the fact that the resolution on the verification of starlinks does not explicitly require them to be put on the balance sheet, it contains risks for those who do not do so, Palyushchenko agrees. "Receiving property without registration may be interpreted as receiving property for free for a public authority. If the property is not reflected in the balance sheet, it can be a legal conflict.The reality of the risks depends on a specific legal assessment of a particular situation during financial control, the lawyer says:When auditing the defense sector, the State Audit Service analyzes not only procurement, but also the actual use of property, its source and accounting procedures. If Starlinks are used but their legal status is not documented, this may be considered a violation of the procedure for accounting for state property or budget discipline.For auditors, this situation looks exactly like a violation. Moreover, as the LIGA.net an interlocutor of one of the military audit structures, it is not the military, but formally civilian institutions that will have the most problems with legalizing Starlink. For four years now, they have been massively using equipment that they were not entitled to receive under anti-corruption laws. Therefore, after the verification is launched, this property must be properly registered and be on the balance sheet."Otherwise, it turns out that in Fedorov's database Starlink is officially registered, for example, with the tax or military administration of the city, but when you go to the other side to audit it from the Accounting Service or the State Audit Service, this so-called surplus property is not recorded anywhere. This is where the legal conflict lies," the source adds LIGA.net.What the state saysThe Ministry of Defense does not see this problem at all.What is meant by "corruption risks"? Will someone judge the military for handing over a starlink to volunteers?" the Ministry of Defense responded ironically to the question LIGA.net.Three interlocutors confirm LIGA.netthe report said that Fedorov from a number of government organizations and departments tried to bring this issue to the meeting, but he rejected it. He says that it is not important to keep records or inventory of property, but to make sure that Space X does not disconnect Ukraine from the satellite Internet, as it did with the Russians.This is an absolutely justified position of a business leader who works for high results. But it does not solve the problem of civil servants who are required by law to report to the state for their work.At the same time, the NACP press service explained LIGA.net the military can be protected by the fact that the aforementioned Article 54 contains the phrase "except in cases provided for by law". In other words, if the transfer of starlinks complied with other laws regulating the free receipt of property by the military (for example, laws on charity, defense, mobilization), this will not violate the provisions of Article 54.The Verkhovna Rada also has no plans to amend or clarify the legislation. "Nothing of the sort has been discussed," says LIGA.net a representative of the Defense Committee (Voice) Solomiya Bobrovskaya.Another representative of the committee from Servants of the people Oleksandr Fediyenko confirms that so far they have not "addressed this issue."The audit revealed a problem. What are the scenarios and recommendations?If the audit (internal or external) reveals terminals with questions about their origin/accounting, there are several possible scenarios, Palyushchenko says:Recommendations or requirements to correct property accounting. Auditors may demand that the accounting be brought into compliance with the law (i.e., to ensure balance sheet accounting), with justification of the sources of income.Administrative or disciplinary remarks to responsible persons – This is possible if the audit finds that information on property is not reflected, which could create corruption risks.Criminal liability – This is unlikely without clear signs of abuse, intent or personal gain, but it will depend on additional circumstances."Administrative or disciplinary liability is more typical in such cases," the lawyer states.How to minimize risksCollect all available documents on the receipt of Starlink terminals – acts, orders, correspondence, acceptance certificates.If necessary, formalize the right of use/ownership properly through local internal documents (orders of the commander, inventories, registers).Prepare an internal accounting register and submit a notification under Resolution No. 115 in the prescribed manner.Seek legal support to assess anti-corruption risks, including the application of Article 54 of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption".Ensure a transparent procedure for accounting and controlling the use of property with clear powers of responsible persons.Until the end of the war, the accounting of Starlink terminals will be overlooked because everyone understands the challenges the state faces. "But after that, there will be problems if they don't come up with a clear protective mechanism for government agencies," says one of the interlocutors LIGA.netthe law is related to financial audits of military structures.Moreover, when the political process is completely unfrozen, such "corruption" violations can become a convenient tool for putting pressure on any political opponents from among civil servants.The easiest way to resolve the situation is through a separate regulatory act of the Cabinet of Ministers, which will set out a special procedure for using Starlink terminals.LIGA.net asked the Cabinet of Ministers to clarify whether this issue would be regulated separately. They replied that it is currently being studied, but a more substantive answer will be provided later. LIGA.net will publish it as soon as it is received.Read alsoA blow from the allies. How European selfishness helps Russia to "turn off" big cities

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