Ukraine’s Starlink network `collapsed` when Russia attacked Kharkov?

(Dan Tri) – Sources in the Ukrainian military say that Ukraine’s Starlink satellite internet systems were shut down when Russia launched an attack on Kharkov last week.

A camouflaged Starlink terminal (Photo: Getty).

The Washington Post, citing information in the Ukrainian military, said Ukraine’s Starlink internet system `collapsed` on May 10 in Kharkov when Russia attacked the border area of the two countries.

According to sources, Starlink appears to have been jammed by Russian electronic warfare equipment.

Specifically, the Washington Post said the incident occurred at the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade, which is responsible for protecting a border section about 40km long between Russia and Kharkov province.

This brigade uses reconnaissance drones daily to monitor the movements of Russian forces across the border.

But on the morning of May 10, the brigade lost its entire video feed due to Russian electronic jamming.

The commander of a drone unit in the brigade, codenamed Artist, said that communication between Starlink and the drone `disappeared`.

`At a certain point, we lost connection completely… This was the biggest problem, we couldn’t see how they were moving, we were just working through the radio or through the phone that was running.

On May 10, Russian forces launched an attack in northern Kharkiv province and continuously captured border settlements.

On May 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had tried to stabilize the situation on the battlefield.

He also emphasized that Russian forces have only reached the first of Ukraine’s three defense lines in the area.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on May 18 that Russia’s Sever (North) Group of Forces had gained control of the town of Staritsa in the Kharkiv region in the past 24 hours and continued the attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that Russia’s goal in attacking Kharkov was to create a buffer zone to prevent Ukraine from attacking Moscow’s territory.

Starlink is a satellite network project revolving around constellations of SpaceX company (USA), providing Internet connections globally, especially serving people in the most remote places on Earth.

Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, SpaceX has provided tens of thousands of Starlink satellite internet connection devices to Ukraine.

Starlink allows the Ukrainian army to have a reliable and powerful information system.

Russia once threatened to shoot down Starlink satellites on the grounds that they were used to serve the Ukrainian army against Russia.

If Russia can really jam Starlink using electronic warfare, this is considered bad news for Ukraine, because it means that Moscow has found a way to intercept its opponent’s communications system.