Musk's SpaceX deactivates Moscow's Starlink terminals, hampering Russian forces
It has taken some arm-twisting and undoubtedly cost Ukrainian lives, but Elon Musk appears to have finally switched off Russia's use of Starlink.
Ukrainian officials said Starlink internet terminals used by the Russian military on the battlefield in Ukraine have finally been deactivated - a move they described as a "disaster" for Moscow.
Under US sanctions, Starlink cannot be sold or used in Russia.
Starlink plays crucial role in Ukraine's defence
Ukrainian officials have warned for months that Russian forces have been trying to use Starlink terminals captured from Ukrainian units or acquired as grey imports from third countries, potentially giving them access to secure high-speed communications.
Starlink has played a crucial role in Ukraine's defence since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kyiv's forces use tens of thousands of the terminals for battlefield communication and piloting drones in areas where conventional networks have been damaged or destroyed by fighting.
The country's government, as well as many civilian homes, businesses, hospitals and schools, also rely heavily on it.
Last week, Ukraine said it was working with Elon Musk's SpaceX to compile a "whitelist" of all the Starlink terminals in use with Ukraine, so Russian ones could be deactivated.
Company implements countermeasures
The company has said it has implemented countermeasures to prevent the Russian military from using it.
"Starlink does not provide service to Russia, and we have taken active steps to prevent Russian military use of our network," the company said in a statement, without detailing exactly how it did it.
Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, said the impact of the deactivations was already significant.
"The enemy doesn't even have a problem on the front[line] - the enemy has a disaster," he said.
"All command of the troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been stopped in many areas."
On social media, Russian warbloggers described the effects of the outage.
"This will hit the forward assault groups hardest, for example in Kupyansk," one wrote. "They have lost all means of communication with the mainland."
Another commented: "Communication has been lost across all branches of the Russian armed forces.
"Right now, we are back to where we were at the start of the special military operation in 2022, when there was a complete lack of coordination between units, which led to the well-known outcome."
Moscow uses Starlink to jam drones
Russian forces have been using Starlink-equipped drones to avoid Ukrainian electronic jamming, providing them with real-time, long-range control of one-way attack drones.
The Institute for the Study of War, an influential US think tank, said Russia has used Starlink to extend the range of its BM-35 drones to 300 miles.
In September 2024, reports emerged of Russian Shahed drones fitted with Starlink, and in December there were also reported sightings of Molniya strike drones fitted with the same system.
SpaceX's decision underscores how a commercial satellite network, originally designed to provide broadband internet to remote areas, has become a critical military asset.
But it has also sparked debate about how much power a private individual like Elon Musk should be allowed to have in a conflict involving major powers.
In the past, Moscow has even accused the United States and its allies of using civilian space infrastructure to support Ukraine’s military operations, claims that Washington has rejected.
Russian alternatives to Starlink lacks resilience and bandwidth, analysts say
Starlink has more than 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit and provides coverage across much of the world.
While the company said it does not operate in Russia and does not sell terminals there, devices can be smuggled across borders and activated outside official distribution channels.
Russia, for its part, has invested heavily in developing alternatives to Western satellite systems, including its own communications satellites and electronic warfare capabilities.
However, analysts say those systems lag behind Starlink in terms of resilience and bandwidth.
"Starlink's low Earth orbit architecture makes it extremely difficult to jam or disable at scale," said James Black, a defence analyst at the RAND Corporation.
"That's why both sides are so focused on access to it."
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