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Starlink Cutoff Reportedly Leaves Russian Troops Vulnerable as Ukraine Attacks
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![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
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Ukraine has started advancing in the Zaporizhzhia region after Russian units reportedly lost access to Starlink satellite internet, according to a senior NATO official cited by The Moscow Times on February 11.
The official, speaking anonymously, said the disruption left Russia in a weakened position in terms of operational command and control, noting that any alternative Moscow deploys is unlikely to be as effective.
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Pro-war Russian military bloggers had warned that cutting Starlink would severely undermine frontline coordination, with some describing the system as irreplaceable for communications and battlefield management.
The Moscow Times reported that Starlink terminals used by Russian forces were operating illegally, smuggled in from abroad and activated because they were technically located on occupied Ukrainian territory.
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The issue had been discussed previously between the Pentagon and SpaceX, and hundreds of unauthorized terminals were disabled in summer 2024, but the entirety of the problem wasn’t fixed.
In early February, however, Starlink CEO Elon Musk reportedly deactivated devices not included on Ukrainian “whitelists,” following a request from Ukraine’s newly appointed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
After the shutdown, Ukraine’s General Staff recorded a sharp drop in Russian assault activity, reporting 56 attacks on February 5 compared with 80 to 110 in earlier days.
Earlier, a prominent Russian state TV host has called for the use of a nuclear detonation in space to destroy SpaceX’s Starlink satellites after the company moved to block their use by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Vladimir Solovyov, one of the Kremlin’s most visible propagandists, made the remarks during a broadcast of his prime-time talk show on Russia 1, framing Starlink as a legitimate military target after SpaceX restricted access to the system for Russian troops.
