Cyber Incident Victim: Russian military
Date:
Feb 2026
Location:
Russia
Summary
Russian military officials acknowledged that Starlink terminals used by their forces have been offline for two weeks, asserting that drone operations remain unaffected according to objective monitoring data. Ukrainian officials countered that the disconnection has significantly impaired battlefield communications and drone piloting, noting that Ukraine depends on tens of thousands of Starlink links for its own operations and has recovered similar terminals from long‑range attack drones employed by the force.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 0 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
Ukrainian officials first reported that the Starlink terminals used by the Russian military had been disconnected, stating that the loss of service had a considerable impact on Russian operations. Nearly two weeks later, on February 18, 2026, Deputy Defence Minister Aleksei Krivoruchko acknowledged on state television that the Starlink terminals had indeed been out of operation for two weeks. He asserted that the disconnection had not affected the intensity or effectiveness of the troops' unmanned systems, citing data from objective monitoring of damage to enemy equipment and personnel as confirmation. The Russian acknowledgement came after the Ukrainian statements and was presented as a formal recognition of the outage.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reiterated that the terminals had been disconnected and emphasized that other Ukrainian officials believed the effect on Russian operations had been considerable. The article notes that Ukraine's military relies on tens of thousands of Starlink connections for battlefield communication and for piloting some drone missions. Additionally, Ukraine reported that it had found Starlink terminals, produced by SpaceX, on long-range drones used in Russian attacks, indicating that the equipment was present in the field despite the reported outage.
The incident is described solely through the conflicting statements of the two sides, with the Russian official maintaining that drone operations remained unaffected while Ukrainian officials claimed a considerable impact. No further details are provided about any restoration efforts, technical actions taken by SpaceX, or subsequent changes in service availability. The narrative ends with the acknowledgment of the two‑week outage and the differing assessments of its operational consequences.