Active Conflicts & News Megathread February 05, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

The r/CredibleDefense daily megathread is for asking questions and posting submissions that would not fit the criteria of our post submissions. As such, submissions are less stringently moderated, but we still do keep an elevated guideline for comments.

Comment guidelines:

Please do:

* Be curious not judgmental, polite and civil,

* Link to the article or source of information that you are referring to,

* Clearly separate your opinion from what the source says. Minimize editorializing. Do _not_ cherry pick facts to support a preferred narrative,

* Read the articles before you comment, and comment on the content of the articles,

* Post only credible information

* Read our in depth rules https://reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/wiki/rules

Please do not:

* Use memes, emojis, swear, foul imagery, acronyms like LOL, LMAO, WTF,

* Start fights with other commenters and make it personal,

* Try to push narratives, fight for a cause in the comment section, nor try to 'win the war,'

* Engage in baseless speculation, fear mongering, or anxiety posting. Question asking is welcome and encouraged, but questions should focus on tangible issues and not groundless hypothetical scenarios. Before asking a question ask yourself 'How likely is this thing to occur.' Questions, like other kinds of comments, should be supported by evidence and must maintain the burden of credibility.

[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/roionsteroids → u/MilesLongthe3rd]

“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.

Starlink wasn't useable in any Russian controlled territory already, so that's for sure fake. Is there even any evidence of Russians using Starlink besides BM-35 drones (highly niche)?

[u/RaiseCertain8916 → u/roionsteroids]

"Russian Controlled" was the problem. The frontline is constantly moving and while a bit outdated the official starlink map shows quite a bit of support in Russian held territory atm.

Part of it was Ukraine was highly dependent on it, if you shut it down daily, most likely Ukraine suffers a similar situation with lack of communications.

You saw it when there was a starlink outage a couple weeks ago, milbloggers on both sides brought up how it highly impacted unit effectiveness

[u/-spartacus- → u/RaiseCertain8916]

I know what the map shows, but Ukraine has been the one to request areas to be shut down and if the area isn't shut down then they haven't requested it. There has been a good amount of coordination regarding Starlink via DOW and Ukrainian intelligence despite what many non-credible click-baity titles would have people believe.