Arya News - Russian troops fighting in Ukraine have appealed for donations of old-fashioned walkie-talkie radios after losing their Starlink satellite internet connections.
Russian troops fighting in Ukraine have appealed for donations of old-fashioned walkie-talkie radios after losing their Starlink satellite internet connections.
Almost 90 per cent of Russian units lost their connections after Elon Musk orchestrated a shutdown of the service, according to pro-Kremlin war bloggers.
The cut-off was negotiated between Mykhailo Fedorov , Ukraine’s digitally-savvy defence minister, and Mr Musk, the maverick billionaire who owns Starlink, after it emerged Russian forces were strapping Starlink terminals to long-range drones .
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s defence minister, struck a deal with Elon Musk that caused Russia to lose their connections - Andrii Nesterenko/Reuters
It has triggered internet outages on both sides of the front lines since the embargo was introduced earlier this week.
Analysts have claimed the move could provide Ukrainian forces with an advantage in the coming weeks and months.
“We’ve been left without communication,” a Russian war blogger railed, while relaying front-line appeals for donations of less technologically advanced radio equipment.
“Due to Starlink terminals being blocked on practically all fronts, command and control of troops has become difficult,” they added.
‘Our communications are in chaos’
Yuri Podolyaka, a Russian propagandist, fumed: “Our communications are in chaos. So are the enemy’s, but their outlook is different.”
Since the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion , Ukrainian forces have had authorised access to Starlink services.
Western sanctions on Moscow restricted the technology’s export and use by Russian troops.
But this did not stop the SpaceX devices from being illegally smuggled into the war zone, with Russia piggybacking off permissions granted across Ukrainian soil, including in occupied areas, to utilise them on the front lines.
Over the past two years, Ukrainian officials have complained that the satellite internet service has bolstered Russia’s battlefield communications. Even Russian troops on horseback have used the systems.
Credit: X / @bayraktar_1love
In recent months, however, Kyiv sounded a much louder alarm when it discovered Russian troops had begun adding smaller Starlink devices to long-range drones to help with targeting and to better avoid jammers.
Concerned at the development, Mr Fedorov, who used to be Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, alerted Mr Musk and SpaceX.
They cooked up a deal that would allow only Starlink terminals registered with Kyiv to continue operating in the country’s territory.
In addition to the “white list”, a speed limit of 75kph was introduced, meaning any devices attached to fast-moving weaponry would be disabled.
Contraband devices being utilised by Russian forces will therefore no longer function.
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0702 Starlink in Ukraine
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Series Kuzan, the chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, told The Telegraph: “Long-term, this is a temporary setback for Russia, as they retain alternative communications, such as radio stations and ground networks, and can pursue Starlink substitutes.
“Currently, however, the blockade creates significant disruptions: Russian forces must re-establish communications via radio, reset cellular networks, and redeploy WiFi bridges and fibre optics – all far more vulnerable and unstable.
“This directly hampers their battlefield activity and drone operations.”
This could set back Russia by ‘a couple of years’
While it’s unclear, or even unlikely, whether the outages will prompt a collapse in the Russian lines, it could be a major setback for the invaders.
A Russian war blogger, who posts anonymously under the moniker Military Informant, suggested it could set back Moscow’s forces “a couple of years” as they shift to older technologies.
Boris Rozhin, another pro-war propagandist, described the saga as a “serious breach in communications, which the enemy may attempt to exploit”.
For now, the Starlink cut-off will impact Russia’s ability to deploy aerial, ground and naval drones, which are reliant on the satellite internet network to be connected with their operators.
The shutdown has seriously undermined Russia’s war effort - Serhii Flash
The SpaceX technology has served as the main form of connection between Russian troops and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), used to resupply front-line positions, and medium-range missiles used to attack Ukraine’s logistical routes.
“The more pressing one is it will make it more difficult to use UGVs effectively and it will make it more difficult to conduct middle-range strikes,” Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a US think tank, said.
“It will certainly have a useful effect in the short term,” he added.
But he predicted Russian forces would “adapt” over time to offset some of the immediate issues triggered by the Starlink shutdown.
Russia has its own satellite communication capabilities, and is developing an independent satellite internet system in low-earth orbit as an alternative to the US devices.
Russia is developing its own satellite internet system - Russian Defense Ministry/AP
It has also utilised alternative options for its long-range, Iranian-designed drones, such as cellular modems fitted with sim cards from Ukrainian providers, which could be used on weapons previously reliant on Starlink.
And the shutdown hasn’t been without its problems for Ukrainian units on the ground.
Many have privately purchased, or been donated, their own Starlink terminals for use on the battlefield, and are prone to additional red tape.
Rebekah Maciorowski, a US volunteer serving as a combat medic, said the change of policy resulted in her unit’s systems failing.
“This wasn’t equipment failure. It wasn’t power. It wasn’t operator error. Our terminal had already been submitted on the required authorisation lists – and it still went dark,” she wrote on social media.
But despite the hiccups, Mr Lee believes the new usage rules agreed between Kyiv and Mr Musk’s SpaceX could provide an advantage to Ukraine’s armed forces in the long-term.
“It will be an important advantage if Russia cannot use this, and Ukraine can,” he said.
“The initial chaos that it created in Russian use, they will find some way to work around it. But, it will be less effective than being able to use Starlink.”
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