Russian military

Summary

A senior Russian military official confirmed that Starlink terminals used by the forces had been non‑operational for two weeks but asserted that drone operations remained unaffected according to objective monitoring data. Ukrainian officials, including the defence minister, stated that the terminals had been disconnected and that the impact on Russian activities had been significant. Ukraine’s armed forces, which depend on tens of thousands of Starlink links for battlefield communication and some drone missions, reported finding the same terminals on long‑range drones employed in Russian attacks.

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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 after those initial claims, a senior Russian military official, 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 was presented as a direct response to the earlier Ukrainian statements about the service interruption.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and other Ukrainian officials maintained that the effect on Russian operations had been considerable, emphasizing the importance of satellite‑based connectivity for battlefield activities. Ukraine’s military itself relies on tens of thousands of Starlink connections for both battlefield communication and for piloting certain drone missions, underscoring the strategic value of the service. In addition, Ukraine reported that it had identified Starlink terminals, manufactured by SpaceX, on long‑range drones employed in Russian attacks, indicating that the equipment was present in the field despite the reported outage. These findings were shared publicly as part of Ukraine’s assessment of the situation.

The Russian official’s statement downplayed any operational consequence, asserting that drone operations continued without degradation, while Ukrainian officials persisted in describing the outage as having a notable effect on Russian capabilities. No further technical details about the cause of the disruption, restoration efforts, or specific countermeasures were disclosed in the available source material. The narrative remains confined to the conflicting assessments of the outage’s impact and the confirmed presence of Starlink hardware on Russian‑used drones.

Sources

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