Belarus Plans to Use ‘Russian Starlink’ in Special Agencies

Reform.news Editorial Team · 2 November 2026, 07:12

https://reform.news/en/belarus-plans-to-use-russian-starlink-in-special-agencies/

Belarus’s Ministry of Communications and Informatization plans to introduce a Russian satellite internet system in special agencies. Pavel Tkach, first deputy head of the Ministry of Communications, said this in an interview with CTV.

“The latest launch by Rassvet took place a couple of months ago. As soon as they expand the constellation to a level that ensures continuity and meets quality standards, this service can genuinely be offered commercially, including in the Republic of Belarus. And quite recently, several devices were handed over for testing”, he said.

Belintersat is the Belarusian partner of Russian company Bureau 1440, which is developing the system. The Russian side recently announced the imminent start of communications testing in Belarus.

According to Tkach, the first users in Belarus will be special agencies, such as the Ministry for Emergency Situations.

“For now, we are considering them for use by special agencies. In particular, they could be used by the Ministry for Emergency Situations. Let us recall the hurricane in Homiel, when Mazyr was without electricity for almost a week. The problem of restoring all the networks, clearing trees and dealing with the destruction was very difficult to coordinate without communications. And our communications, unfortunately, worked only as long as there was still electricity and the batteries held out. Then the batteries had to be recharged. Yes, we went out and recharged them, but that was not enough.

This device really makes it possible to arrive in a field, deploy a terminal and obtain communications, whether internet access, video communications or telephony. In our view, the development is modern and advanced and meets international standards. Moreover, certain technologies are used there that are not available even in Starlink”, he said.

Civilian use is also planned in the future, but Tkach believes that individual consumers are still not being considered.

“We expect that when the next equipment is handed over, we will look at the possibility of using it for civilian purposes to provide communications. Clearly, satellite communications are more expensive than fibre-optic connections, so this will probably not be for private individuals. Most likely, it will be for entrepreneurs who have estates surrounded by forests or arable fields where digging is not possible. Accordingly, under commercial terms, they can pay a little more than an ordinary private individual”, he said.