Starlink 'down across the entire front line' in Ukraine as internet service suffers global outage
Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk, suffered a global outage on Sept. 15, the company announced on its official website.
The service has become vital for hospitals, schools, and front-line military units across Ukraine.
"Starlink is once again down across the entire front line," Ukraine's top drone warfare commander, Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, wrote on Telegram.
Downdetector, a platform that tracks service outages, reported tens of thousands of user complaints worldwide. The company said it was investigating the cause.
Nearly an hour later, Brovdi reported that connectivity was beginning to "gradually restore," though Starlink has not officially confirmed a full recovery. Downdetector also shows a decline in outage reports.
This marks the second major Starlink outage in recent months.
The stakes are high for Ukraine, as Starlink has replaced much of the country's destroyed communications infrastructure and supports both civilian and military connectivity.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Kyiv has received over 50,000 Starlink terminals, with Poland providing nearly 30,000, the largest contribution by any single country.
Ukraine's reliance on Starlink has previously been complicated by tensions with Musk.
Reuters reported in July 2023 that the billionaire ordered a temporary deactivation of satellite coverage over Kherson Oblast during a Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2022, sparking concerns about the vulnerability of critical systems to private decision-making.
