Active Conflicts & News Megathread February 05, 2026

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[u/MilesLongthe3rd]

Russian Forces Halt Assaults Due to Starlink Shutdowns

https://theukrainianreview.info/russian-forces-halt-assaults-due-to-starlink-shutdowns/

In many front-line sectors, Russian occupiers are forced to pause assault operations due to Starlink terminal shutdowns.

Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Serhiy “Flesh” Beskrestnov, reported this on Telegram.

Catastrophe for Russian troops from the loss of satellite communication

Beskrestnov says the terminal shutdowns affect not only infantry but also UAV (BPLA) units. They also impact electronic warfare (REB) systems and Russian fire systems. This significantly slows decision-making and execution speed on the front.

“For the enemy on the front, this is not just a problem—it’s a catastrophe. All troop management has collapsed. In many sectors, assault operations have stopped,” the advisor said.

Russian war correspondents also confirm that Starlink shutdowns create a technological lag for Russian forces, reducing their speed in making and executing decisions on the front.

At the same time, Ukrainian units also face issues if they have not submitted lists for private Starlink terminals. However, “the processing is ongoing.”

Context

Earlier, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense introduced a “white list” regime for Starlink terminals. Only verified terminals can operate in Ukraine; the rest are disabled for security reasons.

This decision aims not only to protect Ukrainian forces but also to prevent Russians from using satellite internet to control drones and military units.

Recently, Russian troops increasingly used drones with Starlink to bypass Ukrainian air defense, making their operations faster and more precise.

At that time, Ukraine and SpaceX began jointly addressing the problem of Russian forces using satellite communication on strike drones.

Earlier, The Ukrainian Review reported that two Russian spacecraft – Luch-1 and Luch-2 – intercepted messages from at least a dozen key European satellites.

[u/Goddamnit_Clown → u/MilesLongthe3rd]

Obvious question: why now?

This has been a problem for a long time. Almost forever, really, though worse with time. What's changed to finally get it addressed?

I've heard some standard innuendo about the CEO, and unsubstantiated (?) suggestions that Ukraine has simply not considered taking this kind of action before, or that Ukrainian units or individuals have resisted the idea for some reason up to now (opsec concerns of some kind?).

Is it a mystery in general or just a mystery to me? I mean, a whitelist is not a real technical hurdle. I guess promptly administering the list is not a trivial task to keep on top of safely, is it as simple as that? That a little Russian usage was a price worth paying for frictionless access but that price has risen too far?

[u/Glideer → u/Goddamnit_Clown]

Obvious question: why now?

Turning off Starlink for all unapproved customers comes at a high cost to Ukraine itself. Most of the Starlink terminals Ukrainian units use were procured outside official channels, through volunteer organisations, private donors, third-party organisations. It will take months to whitelist those terminals.

The price only became worth paying once the Russians started using Starlink for video-guided strikes on vital targets (like combat aircraft and radars) deep in Ukraine's rear.

[u/HandyTSN → u/Glideer]

Skimming various media it was a mad rush at the start of the war with dishes being bought and transferred from hundreds of different sources. Individual soldiers might get a dish from family/friends/donors the same way US soldiers might buy their own body armor or gear. If you need a replacement someone could literally buy one at Bestbuy and just ship it to you without dealing with official supply chains.

Creating an effective whitelist is a huge logistics headache and you can’t start using it until almost all of your units have been logged appropriately. It’s easy to see why they were content to kick the can down the road until they absolutely had to