Champion of Freedom : Elon Musk

"You [Elon Musk] are a true champion of freedom and a true friend of the Ukrainian people."

"Thank you for standing with us."

Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov 

 

"Looks like the steps we took o stop the  unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked."

"Let us know if more needs to be done."

Space X, Elon Musk 

 

"What everyone feared for a long time has happened." 

"Elon Musk flipped the switch … our communications are in chaos."

Yuriy Podolyaka, Crimea-based video blogger, Telegram 

 

"It is important to understand that relying on anything western in the current situation is dangerously overconfident."

"Even taking into account the active negotiations we are currently holding with the United States, that does not stop them from being our adversary."

Aleksey Zhuravlyov, State Duma lawmaker

A Ukrainian soldier using a Starlink terminal. Photograph: Reuters

 

"Its use made information exchange easier for the Russians, as it is quite difficult to jam. As a result, their airstrikes became more precise and coordination of unit movements improved." 

"Since the Ukrainians are successfully jamming everything else, the use of Starlink was vital for the Russians. It was briefly shut down at the start of February to identify terminals that the Russians were using after smuggling them in illegally. Communications have now been restored and the Russians have been cut off from it. But this is only one aspect; there are certainly many other factors at play, including the weather: The cold, snow and the difficult terrain." 

"In war, any tool that solves a problem is suitable. If the frequency bands used by the enemy get detected, they are immediately jammed and efforts are made to shut them down. But if you have any kind of internet connection that allows you to access and exchange information, that helps you out of trouble." 

Maj. Gen. (retired) Neeme Väli  

60 Starlink satellites being delivered from Cape Canaveral (photo taken 2019). Source: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Zoe Thacker /

 

In the latest twist in a four-year-old war where a race for technological supremacy is being fought as much as the confrontations on the battlefield, Russian troops in Ukraine suddenly find themselves without their (illegal) Starlink satellite internet. Pro-war Russian military bloggers have been reporting that Space X's Elon Musk reacted to a Ukrainian request that he curtail access to his network.

 

While it is not yet completely known through speculation how serious a setback this will prove to be to the Russian forces, those same Russian military bloggers report frustration linked to communication problems on the front, with soldiers now deprived of the indispensable communications tool they had used for years through smuggled Starlink equipment linking them to the internet. 

 

Writing under the name Military Informant through the Telegram messaging app, a Russian blogger stated the change could conceivably put the Russian force back "a couple of years", forced to make use of outdated technologies such as wired internet, Wi-Fi and radio communications. "The Starlink saga has created a serious breach in communications, which the enemy may attempt to exploit", blustered Colonelcassad, a channel operated by Boris Rozhin, another Russian pro-war blogger. 

Ukrainian boxing brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko with Starlink terminals shipped to Kyiv early on in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Vitali is Mayor of Kyiv. Source: Kyivcity.gov.ua /

 

Ukraine had recently taken note of Russia's use of the satellite internet network that had gone beyond simple communications connectivity, when Russia began equipping drones with Starlink, improving their targeting and making them more resistant to jamming. The quest for superior drones and greater impenetrable communications links controlling them speaks to the technological competitiveness of this war.  

 

Mykhailo Fedorov, newly appointed as Ukraine's defense minister had contacted SpaceX lat month. The result was  the  U.S. firm blocking access to Starlink in Ukraine other than for terminals registered and verified by the government. Starlink's compliance representing an early victory for the 35-year-old former tech entrepreneur who took the defense ministry last month.

 

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, plans to launch its own satellite internet operation in low-earth orbit with production to begin this year with a launch planned next year. First deputy chairman of the defense committee in Russia's lower  house of Parliament, Aleksei A. Zhuraviev stated that Russia must seek alternatives: "It's important to understand that relying on anything Western in the current situation is overly presumptuous". 

 

SpaceX board member and Estonian-American Steve Jurvetson holding a holding a Starlink user terminal. Source: Steve Jurvetson from Los Altos, USA - Starlink Armada

 

"In January, the Russian side used around 6,000 different drones against Ukraine, in addition to roughly 150 missiles and about 5,000 glide bombs. That is a very large number of targets launched toward Ukraine on a daily basis."

"All of this must be responded to using various means that must be coordinated with each other. Ukraine has a very strong multi-layered air defense, but unfortunately the volume is so great, and of course air defense systems are also worn down in combat."

"There are simply too many Russian targets to respond to everything with one hundred percent effectiveness."

Maj. Gen. (retired) Neeme Väli