For one artillery unit fighting in eastern Ukraine, the US decision this week to reduce services provided by satellite company Starlink to the military had an immediate impact.
Communications with headquarters were interrupted and internet speeds dropped, posing risks in a war where drones present a constant danger and up-to-date information on targets and threats can make the difference between life and death.
”Immediately after the announcement that the connection with Starlink was deteriorating, it really did have a negative impact,” said Ukrlan, a 28-year-old serving with an artillery unit of the Special Rifle Police Battalion.
He asked to be identified only by his callsign, in keeping with Ukrainian military practice.
”We felt it straight away,” he told Reuters from his bunker near the front line in the fiercely contested region of Donbas.
”The internet speed at our position had deteriorated significantly and communication with our headquarters and our command had deteriorated significantly.”
According to officials, the White House issued an order to limit SpaceX’s Starshield satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations.
Ukraine and its Western partners have decried the move as aiding Russia in the war which began nearly five years ago with Moscow’s full-scale invasion. The US says it wants to end the war and is working towards doing so.
While much of the focus has been on Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink service, Ukrlan’s comments point to broader disruptions affecting internet connectivity and speeds.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told leaders in Brussels on Friday that Starlink services had improved but had not yet been fully restored, which he said put civilian lives at risk.
Source link
