Russian troops on the front line were thrown into confusion after unauthorized Starlink terminals suddenly went offline this month, according to intercepted communications obtained by the Axel Springer network, including Politico.
“All we’ve got left now are radios, cables and pigeons,” one Russian soldier said in a transmission recorded by a Ukrainian reconnaissance unit.
The outage followed a decision by SpaceX – owned by Elon Musk – to enforce stricter verification rules for its satellite internet terminals on Feb. 4.
Devices not registered and approved by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry were remotely disabled, cutting off service to Russian units operating in occupied territories.
The disruption was immediate.
“There’s no connection at all. The images aren’t being transmitted,” another Russian serviceman said in the intercepted recordings, referring to drone video feeds used to guide artillery and FPV strikes.
Ukrainian soldiers say the communications blackout sharply reduced Russia’s battlefield effectiveness.
“On the very day Starlink was shut down, artillery and mortar fire dropped drastically. Drone attacks also decreased,” said an aerial reconnaissance operator from the Bureviy Brigade, identified by the call sign Mustang.
“Their coordination became much more difficult.”
According to calculations based on data from the Institute for the Study of War and cited by Agence France-Presse, Ukrainian forces regained roughly 77 square miles (about 200 square kilometers) in the southeast in the days following the shutdown.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky put the figure even higher, saying Ukrainian forces have regained control of 400 square kilometers (over 154 square miles) and eight settlements in the Oleksandrivsky direction since the end of January.
Still, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday cautioned against linking recent territorial gains directly to the Starlink move.
In an interview with German broadcaster Tagesschau published Feb. 23, Zelensky rejected suggestions that the liberation of vast territory in southern Ukraine was triggered by the Starlink shutdown.
“Let’s look at this step by step. The decision regarding Starlink is certainly positive and will be useful. But at the same time, I want to thank our military – the operation in the south, where territory was liberated, began a month before the decision regarding Starlink,” Zelensky said.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Starlink terminals have underpinned Ukraine’s digital battlefield – enabling real-time drone reconnaissance, encrypted messaging and precise artillery corrections.
Analysts have described the system as the backbone of a “semi-transparent” war environment in which both sides depend on constant data flow.
By 2024, Russian forces had increasingly secured their own terminals through third countries, despite Starlink being officially unavailable in Russia. Ukrainian troops reported finding the devices at positions across the contact line. In the occupied city of Kreminna, soldiers could reportedly buy them locally.
That advantage evaporated when unverified units were cut off.
Although Russian artillery fire has partially rebounded, Ukrainian troops say it is now less responsive, often targeting previously mapped positions rather than adjusting to live intelligence. With satellite links severed, Russian units are relying more heavily on traditional radio – communications that are easier to intercept.