Starlink internet terminals being used by Russian troops on the battlefield in Ukraine have been deactivated, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday, in a move that one official described as a “disaster” for Moscow and a major disruption to its assault operations.
Ukrainian authorities have previously said Russia was using thousands of Starlink terminals, which analysts say helped make Russian communications mobile and difficult to jam. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the scale of the shutdown.
Ukraine said last week it was working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to block Starlink terminals used in Russian attack drones. Kyiv has also been compiling a “white list” of authorized Ukrainian terminals so that Russian devices could be identified and disabled.
“Starlinks included in the white list are working — Russian terminals have already been blocked,” Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who took office last month, said on Telegram, adding that verification was still ongoing.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX’s efforts to stop Russia’s unauthorized use of Starlink appeared to be working.
Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Fedorov, said the impact was already significant.
“The enemy doesn’t just have a problem at the front — the enemy has a disaster,” he said. “Command and control has collapsed. Assault operations have been stopped in many areas.”
Ukraine’s military relies on tens of thousands of Starlink connections for battlefield communications and for controlling some drone missions. Kyiv said this week it had found Starlink terminals on long-range drones used in Russian attacks.
A Ukrainian army source on the eastern front told Reuters that Russian forces were facing serious communication problems, with most Starlink connectivity cut off. Reuters could not independently verify that claim.