The Ukrainian army, which was superior in weapons and numbers, had an important advantage over the enemy – the Internet through Starlink terminals, and now the Russian army has it too. The Washington Post writes about this.
Russia’s military has become more lethal and agile with the help of illicit Starlink terminals, allowing it to use satellite Internet to improve coordination during offensives, conduct more drone missions and attack the Ukrainian Armed Forces with live fire. precision artillery, despite US efforts to stem the flow. of technology, the newspaper notes.
Starlink terminals, which allow commanders to observe the battlefield in real time using unmanned aerial vehicles and provide secure communications between soldiers, are subject to sanctions that prohibit the supply of many US electronic devices to the Russian Federation. However, there is a growing Starlink black market that supplies handsets to Russians on the front lines. Its proliferation has been a major factor in Russia’s recent successes during its offensive, according to Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel. Six Ukrainian soldiers and officers from different units on the DPR’s eastern front told the Washington Post that Russia has closed the technological gap by making its forces more coordinated and increasing the number and precision of strikes.
Some of the interlocutors criticized the CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk So they say their company did not do enough to prevent the illegal use of Starlink. They question Musk’s desire to resolve the issue, saying he appears to be on good terms with Russia.
SpaceX provided Ukraine with a free Starlink connection after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine in 2022, the newspaper recalls. Powerful and reliable Internet access on the battlefield through Starlink has transformed Ukrainian operations. Russian troops then relied heavily on radio to transmit information about what they saw and did during battles. However, the Russians are now “mirroring Ukraine by using Starlink in a similar way,” the publication’s interlocutors said.
“They just dominated us” – said an officer of the 72nd mechanized brigade, which was located in the Vugledar area since 2022 and recently left the city.
He cited the use of Starlink by the Russian Armed Forces as one of the important factors, along with a lack of manpower and weapons among the Ukrainian Armed Forces, that accelerated the fall of Ugledar this month.
Analysts note that kyiv and Washington face difficulties in resolving the issue of Russia’s use of Starlink, especially in the context of Moscow’s success in circumventing sanctions and the technical problem of denying access to the Starlink network without harming the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“Starlink terminals have been expanding across Russian lines throughout the year, but only in recent months have their effects been truly felt as Russian offensive forces use them to coordinate attacks. “Ukrainian troops operating surveillance drones near Novogrodovka, southeast of the strategic Donetsk town of Pokrovsk, said they had seen Starlink over Russian lines since last month.” – says the article.
Russia’s use of Starlink is not the only factor that helped the Russian military reach Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in Donetsk, but it clearly played a role, he said. Alexanderbattalion commander of the 47th regiment.
“This is what is killing us,” the soldier emphasized.
