Russian military forces are reportedly facing serious communication breakdowns and incidents of friendly fire following the deactivation of illegal Starlink satellite internet terminals used on the battlefield, according to Ukrainian officials and pro-war Russian bloggers.
Russian forces
Ukrainian and partisan sources say the loss of Starlink connectivity has disrupted Russian command and control systems, leading to confusion during combat operations.
The Crimean Tatar partisan group, Atesh, claimed on Telegram that the communications failure had “sparked deadly incidents of friendly fire” among Russian units.
According to the group, one incident in the Zaporizhzhia direction occurred after a complete breakdown in battlefield communications, causing Russian troops to mistakenly open fire on each other and resulting in the destruction of a 12-man assault group.
The reported disruption followed recent enforcement measures by SpaceX, the company operating Starlink, to prevent the illegal use of its satellite internet service.
Ukrainian officials said SpaceX introduced a mandatory pre-registration system that created a “white list” of authorised Ukrainian Starlink terminals, effectively disabling grey- and black-market devices allegedly used by Russian forces.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk confirmed on Sunday that efforts to block unauthorised Starlink usage appeared to be effective.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, said the system was functioning as intended.
“The Starlink white list is working — authorised terminals operate normally. We continue verification and are working with SpaceX to ensure rapid terminal registration,” Fedorov said.
Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, described the situation as a “catastrophe” for Russia’s military operations.
“All command of the troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been halted in many areas,” Beskrestnov said.
While the full scale of the disruption could not be independently verified, multiple Ukrainian sources described the impact as significant.
Russia is believed to have relied on thousands of illicit Starlink terminals for frontline communications and for guiding attack drones during the conflict.
Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russian forces of using illegally obtained Starlink equipment to coordinate drone strikes on civilian targets.
Neither the Russian Ministry of Defence nor SpaceX provided further details on the number of terminals affected.
