By Lauren Kent, Svitlana Vlasova, Victoria Butenko, Katharina Krebs, CNN
(CNN) — The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said there has been a “cut off” of Russia’s Starlink terminals in Ukraine, which it claims has disrupted Russian military communications on Thursday.
“The enemy on the front lines is facing not just a problem, but a catastrophe. All command and control of the troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been halted in many areas,” said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Fedorov said SpaceX is working with Ukraine to update a “whitelist” of approved and verified Starlink terminals, while unapproved Russian systems have been blocked.
Under US sanctions, Starlink cannot be sold to or used by Russia. However, analysts and Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia has increasingly been finding ways to leverage the system to its own advantage. CNN previously reported on Russia’s practice of mounting Starlink systems on its attack drones, which allow the weapons to bypass Ukraine’s electronic defenses that disable drones by jamming GPS and radio signals, and to strike deeper into the country.
Ukraine has also relied heavily on Starlink since the beginning the war, using it to operate military communications and drones, as well as information systems for public institutions like hospitals and schools.
“The Starlink terminals added to the ‘whitelist’ are working. The Russians’ terminals have already been blocked,” Fedorov said in a statement on Thursday. “We continue to verify Starlink terminals. The first batch of terminals that made it onto the ‘whitelist’ are already operational.”
It comes after Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, which owns Starlink, said earlier this week that it was taking steps to stop Russia’s “unauthorized” use of their satellite internet. Musk reiterated on Thursday that it’s “important to register your Starlink terminal if in Ukraine.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has not addressed the claims of Starlink disruptions.
But Russian military bloggers began commenting on the Starlink outages on Thursday, noting that Russia’s internet and communications capabilities on the front line had taken a hit.
One pro-Kremlin military blogger, Boris Rozhin, wrote a Q&A-style post on Telegram, saying, “Yes, it will have a certain impact on internet availability in the field,” and “yes, there are no alternatives at all, right now.” He also claimed Russian forces were working to bypass the block and to bring high-speed internet to the field using other methods.
Another Russian military blog, which supports the airborne special forces, tried to downplay the disruption, writing: “The Starlinks may have been shut down, but the backup communications are still there. The radios are working, and there’s communication between the positions.”
Some Starlink units used by the Ukrainian side were also reportedly cut off, although it’s unclear how widespread the disruption is as the government continues the whitelisting process.
One Ukrainian combat officer, Tetiana Chornovol, posted on social media that “the shutdown of Starlink left my two combat positions without communication,” adding that her unit has since brought in an alternative communication system.
“It works for us,” a Ukrainian drone pilot said in a video posted to Telegram. “We immediately registered our Starlink terminal and everything is fine.”
CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Daria Tarasova-Markina and Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.
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