BREAKING: Starlink 'catastrophe' for Russia as forces lose access across front line in Ukraine
Editor's note: This story is developing and being updated.
A new "white list" from SpaceX is shutting off Russia's illicit access to Starlink's satellite internet across the front line.
At shortly before 3:00 a.m. Kyiv time on Feb. 5, Elon Musk retweeted a new guide from Ukraine's Digital Transformation Ministry for registering a Starlink terminal within Ukraine.
Important to register your Starlink terminal if in Ukraine https://t.co/QWLyjvFalt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
Subsequently, a series of alarmed Russian social media posts indicate that Starlink terminals were disconnecting en masse along the front.
Three Ukrainian commanders, speaking to the Kyiv Independent on the condition of anonymity, reported intercepting messages from Russian forces complaining about Starlink terminals failing in large numbers.
"The enemy at the front doesn't have a problem, the enemy has a catastrophe," wrote Serhiy "Flash" Beskrestnov, a longtime commentator on electronic warfare more recently appointed as advisor to Defense Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov.
"This will hit harder than anywhere at our front line assault groups, for example in Kupiansk," a a popular Russian propaganda channel wrote. "They will be deprived of any chance of connection with the wider world, alas."
Several Ukrainian commanders cautioned that Russia's assaults have not abated despite the change in connectivity.
“The assaults have not stopped but slowed down,” a deputy battalion commander of the 38th Marine Brigade deployed on the Myrnohrad front told the Kyiv Independent.
Arsen "Lemko" Dmytryk, the chief of staff for Azov Corps told the Kyiv Independent that "For now there is nothing noticeable. Russians are not stopping (their assaults).”
Another pro-Russian milblogger noted that "all along the front, Starlinks have 'lain down,'" though they said that Ukrainian forces were having the same experience.
The degree to which the change has impacted Ukrainian forces remains unclear. Beskrestnov wrote "Among our soldiers it came to light that there had been problems among those who hadn't filed their lists of private Starlinks. The process is ongoing," wrote Beskrestnov.
Fedorov, who was recently reappointed from leading the Digital Transformation Ministry, said on Feb. 1 that Ukraine and SpaceX were working to block Russian access to Starlink service within Ukraine using what amounted to a mass registration scheme using an application, Diia, that was the cornerstone of Fedorov's pre-war career at the ministry.
Starlink service is formally blocked within Russia itself, but remains active in a fair stretch of occupied territory, partly at Ukraine's request. The satellite internet service has firmly entrenched itself into Ukraine's military, with the frontlines remaining dependent on continuous access to high-speed internet.
Since the start of 2025, Russia has outfitted some of its deep-strike Shahed drones with Starlink terminals, allowing them to remain connected to their operators deeper into Ukraine than any other technology allows. Russian frontline units have also become dependent on that internet access.
