Ukraine regains 400 km² after Russian forces lose Starlink access – Bloomberg

Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine’s Defense Forces have regained about 400 square kilometers of territory after thousands of Starlink terminals used by Russian troops were deactivated.

According to Ukrinform, citing Bloomberg, the figure was provided by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

According to the intelligence assessment, Russian forces had been using Starlink terminals produced by SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, “to coordinate movements” and drone strikes.

“Russian military capabilities in Ukraine were temporarily yet significantly degraded following Ukrainian officials’ efforts in February to deactivate thousands of Starlink terminals that were illicitly used by Russian forces to coordinate movements and unmanned aircraft strikes in areas where communications were unreliable or easily jammed,” the intelligence report states.

It is also noted that after Ukraine raised concerns about the use of Starlink systems on Russian drones, SpaceX published guidelines on how to officially register terminals in order to prevent their use by Russian forces.

As reported by Ukrinform, in February, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reached an agreement with Elon Musk and SpaceX regarding Starlink that effectively deprived Russian troops of communications capabilities.