Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said there was a “shutdown” of Starlink satellite internet terminals in Russia, which it claims disrupted Russian military communications on Thursday.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said SpaceX was working with Ukraine to update a “white list” of approved and verified Starlink terminals, while unapproved Russian systems were blocked.
“The whitelisted Starlink terminals are working. The Russians’ terminals have already been blocked,” Fedorov said in a statement on Thursday. “We are continuing to check the Starlink terminals. The first batch of whitelisted terminals are already operational.”
A source within the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that “all Russian Starlinks were disrupted” along the front line as of Thursday evening local time.
Under US sanctions, Starlink cannot be sold or used by Russia. However, Ukrainian analysts and officials have warned that Russia has increasingly found ways to use the system to its own advantage. CNN previously reported on Russia’s practice of mounting Starlink systems on its attack drones, which allow the weapons to bypass Ukraine’s electronic defenses that disable the drones by jamming GPS and radio signals and strike deeper into the country.
Ukraine has also relied heavily on Starlink since the beginning of the war, using it to operate military communications and drones, as well as information systems for public institutions such as hospitals and schools.
“The enemy at the front is facing not just a problem, but a catastrophe. All command and control of troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been halted in many areas,” said Serhii Beskrestnov, adviser to the defense minister.
It comes after Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, which owns Starlink, said earlier this week that he was taking steps to stop Russia’s “unauthorized” use of satellite internet. Musk reiterated Thursday that it’s “important to register your Starlink terminal if you’re in Ukraine.”
The Russian Defense Ministry did not address the claims of Starlink outages.
But Russian military bloggers began commenting on the Starlink outages on Wednesday and Thursday, noting that Russia’s frontline Internet and communications capabilities had been hit.
A pro-Kremlin military blogger, Boris Rozhin, wrote a question-and-answer post on Telegram saying, “Yes, it will have some impact on internet availability in the field” and “yes, there are no alternatives at all, at this point.” He also claimed that Russian forces are working to circumvent the block and bring high-speed internet to the ground using other methods.
Another Russian military blog, which supports airborne special forces, tried to downplay the disruption, writing: “The Starlinks may have been shut down, but backup communications are still there. Radios are working and there is communication between positions.”
Some Starlink units used by the Ukrainian side have also been disrupted, although it is unclear how widespread the disruption is as the government continues the whitelisting process.
A Ukrainian combat officer, Tetiana Chornovol, posted on social media that “Starlink shutdown left my two combat positions out of communication,” adding that her unit has since introduced an alternative communication system.
“It works for us,” a Ukrainian drone pilot said in a video posted on Telegram. “I immediately registered our Starlink terminal and everything is fine.”
Talks end with little progress
Meanwhile, the second round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States concluded in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, who was part of his country’s delegation, described the negotiations as “really constructive”.
“I am grateful to the US and the UAE for their high-quality organization and mediation,” Budanov told the Ukrainian news agency RBC-Ukraine.
Although no agreement emerged during the two days of talks, Russia and Ukraine agreed to carry out their first prisoner exchange since last October. Each returned 157 prisoners of war to the other side on Thursday, according to Russian state news agency TASS and US negotiator Steve Witkoff.
“While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine,” Witkoff said Thursday in a post on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said negotiators had agreed to hold a new round of talks “in the near future.”
CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Daria Tarasova-Markina and Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.
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