Just before Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s northern border this month, members of Ukraine’s 92nd Commando Brigade lost a vital resource. Service speeds on the Starlink satellite network that soldiers use to communicate, gather intelligence and conduct drone strikes have slowed down.
Starlink is operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and has been vital to the Ukrainian military since the early days of Ukraine’s war with Russia. Ukrainian soldiers said that without comprehensive services, they would not be able to quickly communicate and share information about sudden attacks and could only solve the problem by sending text messages. Their experience is being repeated on the new northern front, according to Ukrainian soldiers, officials and electronic warfare experts.
At the heart of the outage: increased interference from Russia.
Ukrainian officials said that as Russian forces gained ground this month near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, they deployed more powerful electronic weapons and more advanced tools to cripple Starlink services. These advances pose a significant threat to Ukraine, which has often managed to outwit Russian forces with the help of frontline connections and other technology, but has always been on the defensive against new Russian advances.
This new outage appears to be the first time Russia has caused a large-scale disruption to Starlink. If they continue to succeed, it could mark a tactical shift in the conflict, highlighting Ukraine’s vulnerability and reliance on services provided by Musk’s companies. As the U.S. and other governments work with SpaceX, the disruptions raise broader questions about Starlink’s reliability against technologically sophisticated adversaries.
Starlink works by transmitting network connections downward through satellites orbiting the earth. The signals are picked up on the ground by terminal receivers the size of pizza boxes, which then act like Wi-Fi routers and distribute connections to nearby laptops, cell phones and other devices. Since 2022, Starlink has provided vital network services to Ukraine, with soldiers relying on it to guide connected drones that can be used for tasks such as surveillance and weapons.
Several Ukrainian ministers, Mikhailo Fedorov, said in interviews this week that Russia’s recent attacks on Starlink appear to have used new, more advanced technology. Previously, the service had been very immune to interference in battlefields where there was widespread electronic warfare, radio jamming and other communications disruptions.
But Fedorov said the Russians were now “testing different mechanisms to disrupt the quality of the Starlink connection, because this is very important for us,” without revealing details about what he called a “powerful” electronic weapons system. Information. He added that Ukraine has been communicating with SpaceX to resolve the issue.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. An official leading Russia’s electronic warfare efforts told state media last month that the military had put Starlink on its “target list” and was developing capabilities to counter the service.
While Fedorov said Starlink service should improve soon, some disruptions appear to be due to Russian attacks, according to soldiers and officials. They say any disruption at a critical moment on the battlefield would put Ukraine’s already stretched military at a further disadvantage.
“We are losing the electronic warfare battle,” said Ajax, call sign, deputy commander of the 92nd Regiment’s Achilles Attack Drone Battalion, describing in an interview what his unit faced after the Starlink connection failed. challenge.
“It was closed the day before the attack,” Ajax said. “It gets very, very slow.”
One drone pilot whose call sign is Cartel said the disruptions put the entire sector at a disadvantage. He said he was in his garage with no food and no sleeping bag during the first armored assault of the Russian offensive this month. His team begins a drone attack, but is hampered by Starlink connection issues. Communications have become so slow, he said, that soldiers are resorting to text messages sent via chat apps — and even then, messages take a while to be sent.
“In the first few hours, the front was very active. The enemy was moving. We were moving too,” he said. “We need to communicate quickly.”
For more than three days, the force held off the Russians, but not without difficulty, he said. “It makes everything more complicated,” he said. “Everything is more time-consuming.”
Kari A. Bingen, a former U.S. Department of Defense official and electronic warfare expert, said that using high-power radio frequencies to overwhelm connecting links could disrupt Starlink and other satellite communications. Stealth attacks are typically carried out by vehicles with large radio towers on top, she said.
“This is a natural target for the Russian military,” said Ms. Bingen, now director of the aerospace security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. “This reduces the Ukrainian military’s ability to communicate on the battlefield.”
Explanations for Starlink service disruptions in Ukraine over the past year vary. Several experts said that Russia is better at jamming signals between satellites and ground-based Starlink terminals by using powerful and precise jammers. Others believe the service is being disrupted by specialized electronic weapons mounted on drones, which could disrupt GPS signals from Starlink, the global positioning system used to help locate satellites.
The sharp increase in Starlink usage will also reduce service quality. In some cases, technical restrictions designed to prevent Russian forces from using Starlink have harmed the service of Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. Other times, outages can be more random, such as earlier this month when SpaceX reported service issues around the world due to solar storms.
Throughout the conflict, Ukrainian forces have tried various techniques to protect Starlink from attack, including placing terminals in holes dug in the ground and laying metal mesh over them. Infozahyst, a Ukrainian company that works with the military and specializes in manufacturing electronic warfare tools, said it did not believe such a temporary solution would be effective.
Starlink gives Musk enormous leverage in a war because he controls the areas where satellite service is available and can choose to cut off access. In some cases, Ukrainian officials have directly called on Musk to open Starlink connections during military operations so they could conduct drone strikes across enemy lines — but the billionaire hasn’t always approved of the request. The U.S. government, which purchases Starlink terminals for Ukraine, is sometimes involved in negotiations.
Starlink is not sold directly to Russia. But this year, Ukrainian officials publicly warned that Russia was using Starlink terminals purchased from third-party vendors, which could undermine Ukraine’s connectivity advantage.
Experts warn that Ukraine is overly reliant on one company for such vital resources, especially one run by someone as unpredictable as Musk. But Ukraine’s reliance on Starlink is unlikely to diminish. There are few other options that offer such comprehensive, reliable service.
Mr Fedorov said the Ukrainian government was constantly testing new systems. He said the military has specialized maritime drone systems that have destroyed many Russian ships in the Black Sea.
“But of course there is no mass-produced equivalent,” he said.
For Ukrainian commander Ajax, the loss of Starlink services brought back bad memories from the war. As he fought near the Russian border in 2022, his troops were sometimes cut off by Starlink, disrupting drone video feeds used to target artillery from long distances. Instead, the unit deploys soldiers to covertly monitor enemy positions and directly attack them.
“This became the old way of radio,” he said. “We had to say, ‘Move 100 feet to the left.’ It was so weird.
Andrew E. Kramer Reporting from Kiev, Ukraine Olha Kotyzhanska From Kharkiv and Kramatorsk.
