What Occurred After Elon Musk Took the Russian Military Offline

This story initially ran in Welt and seems on Enterprise Insider by the Axel Springer International Reporters Community.

“All we have got left now,” the Russian soldier stated, “are radios, cables and pigeons.”

A call earlier this month by SpaceX to close down entry to Starlink satellite-internet terminals brought about rapid chaos amongst Russian forces who had grow to be more and more reliant upon the Elon Musk-owned firm’s expertise to maintain their occupation of Ukraine, in line with radio transmissions intercepted by a Ukrainian reconnaissance unit and shared with the Axel Springer International Reporters Community, to which POLITICO and Enterprise Insider belong.

The communications breakdown considerably constrained Russian army capabilities, creating new alternatives for Ukrainian forces. Within the days following the shutdown, Ukraine recaptured roughly 77 sq. miles within the nation’s southeast, in line with calculations by the information company Agence France-Presse based mostly on knowledge from the Washington-based Institute for the Research of Conflict.

SpaceX started requiring verification of Starlink terminals on Feb. 4, blocking unverified Russian items from accessing its providers. Nearly instantly, Ukrainian eavesdroppers heard Russian troopers complaining in regards to the failure of “Kosmos” and “Sinka” — apparently code names for Starlink satellite tv for pc web and the messaging service Telegram.

“Rattling it! Seems like they’ve switched off all of the Starlinks,” one Russian soldier exclaimed. “The connection is gone, fully gone. The pictures aren’t being transmitted,” one other shouted.

Dozens of the recordings have been performed for Axel Springer International Reporter Community reporters in an underground listening put up maintained by the Bureviy Brigade in northeastern Ukraine. Neither SpaceX nor the Russian International Ministry responded to requests for remark.

“On the Russian aspect, we noticed on the very day Starlink was shut down that artillery and mortar hearth dropped drastically. Drone drops and FPV assaults additionally instantly decreased,” stated a Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance operator from the Bureviy Brigade who would conform to be recognized solely by the decision signal Mustang, referring to first-person view drones. “Coordination between their items has additionally grow to be tougher since then.”

The satellite tv for pc web community has grow to be an important device on the battlefield, sustaining high-tech drone operations and changing walkie-talkies in low-tech fight. Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, which destroyed a lot of Ukraine’s conventional communications infrastructure, Western governments have supplied hundreds of the Starlink items to Kyiv.

With the moveable terminals, there isn’t any want to put kilometers of cable that may be broken by shelling or drone strikes. Drone footage may be transmitted in actual time to command posts, artillery and mortar hearth may be corrected with precision, and operational info may be shared immediately through encrypted messaging apps akin to Sign or Telegram.

On the outset of the Russian invasion, Starlink entry gave Ukraine’s defenders a decisive operational benefit. These in besieged Mariupol despatched indicators of life in spring 2022 through the backpack-size white dishes, and military items used them to coordinate throughout brutal house-to-house preventing in Bakhmut in 2023.

Satellite tv for pc web grew to become “one in every of, if not a very powerful elements” of Ukraine’s approach of conflict, in line with army analyst Franz-Stefan Gady, an adviser to European governments and safety businesses who recurrently visits Ukrainian items. “Starlink constituted the spine of connectivity that enabled accelerated kill chains by serving to create a semi-transparent battlefield.”

The operational benefits of Starlink didn’t go unnoticed by Russian forces. By the third yr of the conflict, Starlink terminals have been more and more turning up in Russian-occupied territory. One of many first documented instances surfaced in January 2024 within the Serebryansky forest. Month by month, Ukrainian reconnaissance drones noticed extra of the units.

The Ukrainian authorities subsequently contacted Musk’s firm, urging it to dam Russian entry to the community. Mykhailo Fedorov, then digital minister and now protection minister, alleged Russian forces have been buying the units through third nations. “Ukraine will proceed utilizing Starlink, and Russian use will probably be restricted to the utmost extent potential,” Fedorov pledged in spring 2024.

But Russian use of the terminals continued to develop all through 2025, and their use was not restricted to artillery or drone items. Even Russian infantry troopers have been carrying mini Starlink terminals of their backpacks.

“We discovered Starlink terminals at just about each Russian place alongside the contact line,” stated Mustang. “In some unspecified time in the future, it felt just like the Russians had extra units than we did.”

Within the listening put up this month, he scrolled by greater than a dozen photos from late 2025 exhibiting Russian Starlink terminals arrange between timber or beside the entrances to their positions.

“We focused their positions intentionally,” Mustang continued. “However even when we destroyed a terminal within the morning or night, a brand new one was already put in by the subsequent morning.”

Within the Russian-occupied japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Kreminna, there was even a store the place troopers may purchase Starlink terminals beginning in 2024. Based on Ukrainian officers, these units weren’t registered in Russia.

SpaceX’s transfer in early February to implement a stricter verification system successfully minimize off unregistered Starlink terminals working in Russian-occupied areas. Solely units accepted and positioned on a Ukrainian Ministry of Protection “whitelist” remained energetic, whereas terminals utilized by Russian forces have been remotely deactivated.

“That is it, principally nobody has web in any respect,” a Russian soldier stated in one of many messages performed for Axel Springer reporters. “All the things’s off, every thing’s off.”

The short-term shutdown allowed Ukraine to sluggish the momentum of Vladimir Putin’s forces, though the localized counteroffensives don’t signify a basic shift alongside the entrance. Troopers from different Ukrainian items, together with the Black Arrow battalion, confirmed the army penalties of the Starlink outage for Russian forces of their sectors in interviews with the Axel Springer International Reporters Community.

By mid-February, Russian shelling had elevated once more, although largely in opposition to frontline positions that had lengthy been recognized and exactly mapped — suggesting that Russia has but to completely restore all of its misplaced capabilities.

Now, analysts from the Bureviy Brigade say Russian forces are scrambling for alternate options. They’ve been compelled to rely much more closely on radio communication, in line with Mustang, which creates extra alternatives for interception.

Russian items will possible try to change to their very own satellite tv for pc terminals. However their pace and connection high quality are considerably decrease, Mustang says. And due to their dimension, the units are tough to hide.”The shutdown of Starlink, even when solely of restricted impact for now, highlights the restricted potential of the Russian armed forces to quickly implement ongoing cycles of innovation,” stated Col. Markus Reisner of the Austrian Armed Forces. “This might signify a possible level of leverage for Western supporters to supply swift and sustainable assist to Ukraine at this stage.”

Ibrahim Naber is a chief reporter at Welt.