Russian forces lose key battlefield advantage after Starlink terminals abruptly shut down
Ukraine said it has worked with SpaceX to block Starlink internet terminals used by Russian forces, a move Kyiv described as a major setback for Moscow’s battlefield operations.
Ukraine’s military uses tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and drone operations, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian officials said they recently discovered Starlink terminals attached to Russian long-range drones, prompting urgent appeals to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for assistance.
Russian troops have relied on unauthorized Starlink terminals for secure communications since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
But Kyiv said it worked with SpaceX to compile a "white list" of authorized Ukrainian Starlink terminals, allowing Russian-operated systems to be shut off.
"Starlinks included in the ‘white list’ are working — Russian terminals have already been blocked," Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a Telegram post, adding that the list was still being updated, Reuters reported.
The outlet said it could not independently verify the full scale of the disruption but cited multiple Ukrainian sources who reportedly said the impact appeared significant.
Russian war bloggers also acknowledged the outage, the pro-Russian Telegram channel Two Majors saying there had been a major failure of Starlink terminals on the Russian side beginning Wednesday evening, describing the block as "extremely unpleasant," according to the East2West news agency.
Ukrainian military sources near the front told Reuters Russian units were experiencing severe communications problems and were attempting to switch to Russian-made satellite systems.
"All command of the troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been stopped in many areas," Ukrainian defense adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram, Reuters reported.
Some Russian frontline attacks have slowed or stopped due to the loss of Starlink communications, with other operations reduced as units struggle to coordinate, according to East2West.
The outlet also reported that Russian forces could no longer attach Starlink terminals to drones for targeting and battlefield coordination, citing Ukrainian sources.
East2West said Russia does not have a domestic alternative comparable to Starlink after failing to establish its own satellite-internet system for frontline forces.
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Amid the communications disruption, East2West reported Russia launched a new spy satellite aboard a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
The Starlink disruption comes as U.S.-brokered talks aimed at ending the war continue. American officials have said the United States will continue supplying weapons to Ukraine until a peace agreement is reached.
