Russian troops are increasingly using Starlink, costing Ukraine a key advantage

• WELT research shows that the Russian army is increasingly employing Starlink devices on the front.
• Ukraine's army says Starlink terminals in Russian-held areas are active, and more are being added.
• Russian use of the DoD-backed network is costing Ukraine one of its foremost advantages.

Russian troops are increasingly using Starlink satellite systems in their fight against Ukraine, research by the German daily newspaper WELT reveals. In one intelligence center, soldiers presented evidence of Russia's increased Starlink usage and described the dramatic consequences for Kyiv.

For just over two years, the Ukrainian army has been using an exclusive weapon that has granted it a significant operational advantage. Portable Starlink terminals secure a stable internet connection for soldiers everywhere, regardless of whether in trenches on the frontline or in underground command posts. Ukrainian defenders were able to send signs of life from surrounded Mariupol through the satellites. Units also organized themselves through the system during house-to-house fighting around Bakhmut in 2023. Even today, soldiers rapidly correct their artillery fire with help from Starlink or use the devices to navigate drones to attack Raussia's Black Sea Fleet. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the recently deposed head of Ukraine's military, had praised the terminals for their "exceptional utility."

Now Ukraine is set to lose this advantage on the battlefield.

WELT research shows that the Russian army is also increasingly employing Starlink devices on the front lines in eastern Ukraine. Soldiers presented evidence of this at an intelligence and analysis center of the "Bureviy" brigade, a unit of the National Guard in the Donetsk Oblast. Satellite images, drone footage, and intercepted conversations between Russian soldiers indicate that at some of Putin's troops have been systematically using the American satellite system. "Without Starlink, our effectiveness would be clearly reduced. That's why I would say that they (Starlink devices, ed.) are also very effective for the Russians," said Oleksandr, commander of the Bureviy brigade's interception unit.

The first reports of Russia's increased implementation of the devices emerged in February 2024. At the time, SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote on his platform X (formerly Twitter): "As far as we know, no Starlinks have been sold to Russia, either directly or indirectly." Mykhailo Albertovych, the Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, had announced wanting to work with SpaceX to reduce their use for Russian troops. An inquiry about whether and how the US company is combatting Russia's use of the systems remained unanswered by SpaceX as of Thursday at midday.

According to the Ukrainian army, the Starlink terminals in Russian-occupied territories are still active, and even more are being added. "We have uncovered a whole series of Starlink terminals in the Serebrian Forest - the Achmat units have used Starlink. Other brigades also use the devices. They get them in large quantities. They are not registered in Russia," said Michas, the head of radio reconnaissance, in an interview. Like the other soldiers interviewed, he only provided his first name or call sign for security reasons. According to Michas, his unit learned through intercepted conversations between Russian soldiers "that there is even a store in Kreminna selling Starlink." Kreminna is under Russian control. Volunteers brought the devices there and sold them to soldiers. The Ukrainian reconnaissance investigators suspect that the Starlink devices come from other countries. "They are not registered in Russia," said Michas.

Maksym, a 21-year-old analyst of the Bureviy brigade, presented several images on his screen proving the use of Starlink devices in the Russian-occupied territories of eastern Ukraine. According to the caption, the images were taken in March 2024. "We can identify enemy soldiers here," he explained and zoomed in on one of the images with his mouse. "And we can see a white square antenna on the roof. But if you look closely at the shadow, you can recognize the shape of a Starlink."

"They cannot use the Starlinks in deepest Russia, but near the front line, within a radius of 30 to 50 kilometers, it is indeed possible," he said. A form of geoblocking of the devices, namely a territorial limitation of their use on the Ukrainian front lines, is complex, as the front lines frequently shift, and the Ukrainian army is itself reliant on Starlink.

Wolodymyr, a radio reconnaissance officer in the "Bureviy" brigade, explains that they first learned about the increased use of Starlink systems by Russian troops in eastern Ukraine about two to three months ago. He plays intercepted conversations in which Russian soldiers place orders for new Starlink devices to military logisticians. According to Wolodymyr, Putin's troops use the satellite system primarily to correct artillery fire quickly. The Russian deployment also has other serious consequences for Ukraine. "We cannot intercept their communication via Starlink. There is internet access there. We cannot hack it."

The use of Starlink has been marred by several controversies since Russia's full-scale invasion. In February 2023, SpaceX announced that it would restrict the Ukrainian military's use of Starlink to control drones. The reasoning at the time, according to Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, was that the terminals were "never intended as a weapon," but only as a support for defense against the Russian military. In fact, Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut reported to WELT in February 2023 that they were experiencing increasing connection problems with the satellites. However, this could also have been due to disruptive measures by the Russians. Tens of thousands of Starlink devices are said to have arrived in Ukraine since 2022, some of which the US company made available free of charge.

Musk is also said to have prevented a spectacular attack by the Ukrainians in 2022. As the military navigated naval drones toward the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, they suddenly lost connection and failed to reach their destination. This is how Walter Isaacson describes it in a biography about Musk. According to the author, the American had instructed engineers from his company SpaceX to switch off the communication network of the Starlink satellites near Crimea.

Musk confirmed the incident on his platform "X" (formerly Twitter) in the autumn of 2023 but objected to a shutdown. Instead, the area in question was simply not activated after a request. "The obvious intention was to sink most of the Russian fleet. Had I agreed to this request, SpaceX would have explicitly engaged in a major act of war and escalation of conflict."

Staff writer Rebecca Rommen translated this article.

Ibrahim Naber is a chief correspondent for the Germany daily WELT and covers the war in Ukraine.