A joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel, and Le Monde reports that Russia and China have been discussing—through clandestine military-technical forums—how to defeat Elon Musk’s Starlink, the satellite internet network whose terminals have become central to communications in Ukraine.

The reporting says the documents include slide presentations delivered in November 2023 at a Third China-Russia Military-Technical Cooperation Forum in Guangzhou, plus a signed working protocol from talks held in Moscow in June 2023. The materials reportedly outline coordinated cooperation across five weapons areas, including:

space systems focused on destroying satellites integrated air and missile defense autonomous “swarm” loitering munitions next-generation armored vehicles military aviation

The article argues that while China has publicly presented itself as neutral in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the documents instead depict a structured, multi-disciplinary partnership extending far beyond rhetoric—aimed at developing capabilities the countries would struggle to build alone.

It also describes how Starlink became highly important during the war—used for medical evacuations, artillery targeting/corrections, and real-time drone operations—and frames the planned effort against it as part of a broader attempt to weaken Western-aligned military communication networks.

Finally, the story portrays the Russia–China cooperation as signaling escalating strategic coordination toward major players in Musk’s “space, defense, and industrial” ecosystem, particularly given Starlink’s relevance to U.S. defense-related systems and Ukraine’s war communications.