Ukraine recaptured 400 square kilometers after blocking Starlink for Russia

This counteroffensive marked Kyiv’s first territorial gain since 2023 and was made possible because Russia’s military capabilities were temporarily but significantly weakened after the terminals were taken out of service, Bloomberg reports.

Russian troops used Starlink terminals, created and maintained by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to coordinate movements and drone strikes.

According to data from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and U.S. European Command, Russian military capabilities in Ukraine suffered a temporary, but significant weakening after Ukrainian officials took measures in February to disable thousands of Starlink terminals that Russian troops were illegally using to coordinate the movements and strikes of unmanned aerial vehicles in areas where communications were unreliable or easily jammed.

Russian troops in Ukraine suffered a double blow to their communications systems after the Kremlin imposed harsh measures against the Telegram messaging app—a decision that sparked outrage among Russian soldiers who used the app to communicate on the battlefield.

The Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) assessment regarding Starlink underscores the value of these terminals in a war that has been ongoing for more than four years. As of March, the Russian military maintained an overall advantage over the Ukrainian Armed Forces in most combat functions.

Photo: nfront.org.ua.