The Ukrainian army has fundamental technology for its soldiers’ communications, to detail the location of objectives or to control its drones. It is the satellite internet connection of Starlink, the company of American millionaire Elon Musk. But kyiv may lose this advantage because Russia has learned to interrupt the connection provided by satellites, as confirmed this Friday by Andrii Lebedenko, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Lebedenko has assured that they are introducing new radio systems and that Russia has not achieved “a radical change” that would destabilize the Ukrainian defenses.
The first alarms went off this May with the lightning offensive of Russian troops north of the city of Kharkiv. The Ukrainian 92nd Assault Brigade found that, in the early stages of the Russian advance, on May 10, the internet connection of the receivers pointing to Starlink stopped working. Communications of the 125th Bigada of the Territorial Defense Forces were also interrupted. The enemy used the situation to advance comfortably. Since then, as reported this Friday The New York Times, the disruption of the service has worsened. The Minister of Digital Transformation, Mijailo Fedorov, explained to the American newspaper that Russia has new electronic warfare technology that is being effective against the use of Starlink. Fedorov indicated that his government is in contact with SpaceX, Musk’s company that provides the service, to solve the problems. Neither the minister nor other military sources have specified what type of weapons Russia is using to cut the connection.
Starlink signal reception antennas are present in thousands of defending army units, from small squads to command centers. The internet connection allows soldiers to communicate, update tracking maps of each corner on the front and operate their drones. Russia does not have this technology because it is not marketed in its territory, but the intelligence services of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (GUR) warned last February that they had detected some positions of the invading army with Starlink antennas.
At the moment, it is not a general problem
Leaving the Ukrainian Armed Forces without this would mean a gigantic victory for Russia. Lebedenko wanted to emphasize that the situation is stable: “There is a risk of disruption of Starlink, but neither the management [de los regimientos] nor the communication with the drones have been affected.” The vice chief of the Army added that other radio communication systems are being introduced. Morning Express visited the Kharkiv front last week and verified that the Starlink connection worked normally in the three units of the Ukrainian army that were interviewed, which proves that it is not, at the moment, a widespread problem.
In the last year, there have been reports of specific failures of the Starlink service in positions on the Donetsk and Zaporizhia fronts. When this happened, SpaceX was held responsible on the Ukrainian military Telegram channels, accusing the company without evidence of closing the connection to benefit Russia. The Ukrainian Armed Forces aborted an attack on the Crimean peninsula in 2022, illegally annexed by Russia in 2022, because Musk refused to activate his service’s coverage over this territory, which was necessary to control the bomb drones that were going to be used. .
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Musk raised his opposition to his satellite connection being used for military purposes in 2022 and 2023, but finally gave in to pressure from the White House. The owner of companies such as the social network
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