Russian troops are facing sweeping communications failures after Starlink terminals they had been using suddenly shut down, a move Ukraine says has delivered a sharp blow to Moscow’s battlefield coordination.
The outages have reportedly forced assault operations to halt in multiple areas, disrupting troop command and frontline planning at a critical moment in the war.
Kyiv Moves To Cut Off Unauthorized Starlink Access
Ukraine said it worked with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to block Starlink internet terminals used by Russian forces. Officials described the action as a strategic effort to protect Ukraine’s battlefield advantage.
According to Reuters, Ukraine’s military operates tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for communications and drone missions. However, Ukrainian officials recently discovered Starlink devices attached to Russian long-range drones, prompting urgent appeals to SpaceX for intervention.
Since the 2022 invasion, Russian troops have relied on unauthorized Starlink terminals for secure communications, Ukrainian officials said. In response, Kyiv coordinated with SpaceX to compile a “white list” of approved Ukrainian terminals, enabling unauthorized systems to be disabled.
“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.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the full scale of the disruption. Still, multiple Ukrainian sources told the outlet the impact appeared significant.
Russian Military Bloggers Confirm Major Outage
Meanwhile, pro-Russian voices acknowledged the disruption.
The Telegram channel Two Majors reported a large-scale failure of Starlink terminals on the Russian side beginning Wednesday evening. It described the block as “extremely unpleasant,” according to the East2West news agency.
Ukrainian military sources near the front told Reuters that Russian units were experiencing severe communications breakdowns and were trying 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.
According to East2West, some Russian frontline attacks have slowed or stopped entirely because of the loss of Starlink communications. Other operations have reportedly been reduced as units struggle to coordinate movements and drone strikes.
The outlet also reported that Russian forces can no longer attach Starlink terminals to drones for targeting and battlefield coordination, citing Ukrainian sources.
East2West added that Russia does not have a domestic satellite-internet system comparable to Starlink, after previous efforts to establish one for frontline forces fell short.
Russia Launches Spy Satellite Amid Communications Crisis
As communications faltered on the ground, East2West reported that Russia launched a new spy satellite aboard a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
The disruption comes as U.S.-brokered talks aimed at ending the war continue. American officials have said the United States will keep supplying weapons to Ukraine until a peace agreement is reached.
For now, however, the battlefield impact appears immediate. In a conflict increasingly driven by drones, satellite links, and real-time coordination, the loss of secure communications can halt momentum almost overnight.
