Until recently, the Russian army actively took advantage of the American satellite internet system "Starlink" - owned by Elon Musk's company SpaceX. Although it was blocked for Russia for a long time, Russian soldiers illegally obtained the necessary terminals and actively used them in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Russia claims that it does not matter. Military bloggers say otherwise.
In early February, however, Russia lost access to the "Starlink" terminals in Ukraine. SpaceX took measures at the request of Kiev to prevent the Russian army from using the satellite connection. A speed limit was introduced, as well as a mandatory special verification.
Moscow confidently stated that this had no impact on the communications of the Russian army. Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko explained that the soldiers communicated via other channels.
According to observers, however, the Russian military relied heavily on "Starlink", writes the German public television ARD. Proof of the importance of American satellites for the Russian army is also the reaction of military bloggers who maintain direct contact with the soldiers. Some of these bloggers reported serious problems on their channels.
Ukraine took advantage of the communication chaos
Independent analysts believe that Russia's problems with "Starlink" have helped Ukraine carry out some successful counterattacks - for example, in the Zaporozhye region. This opinion is also shared by the American think tank "Institute for the Study of War", which closely monitors military operations in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine has regained about 300 square kilometers of territory.
Ukrainian troops continue to use "Starlink". SpaceX has introduced a "white list", which can only include verified terminals used by the Ukrainian side.
How the Russian army got caught in a trap
The German public media ARD reported that Ukrainian hackers are taking advantage of the current situation to carry out an unusual attack on the Russians. They offer their enemies to reactivate their terminals, only this is a trap. One of the hackers told ARD that he and his team are contacting Russian soldiers via "Telegram" - sometimes they talk to them directly, and sometimes through bots. "We asked them for all kinds of information, including their location", the hacker explains.
He is part of the Ukrainian "256th Cyber Attack Group" - a private initiative that was created back in 2014, when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula. The operation against Russian soldiers has been going on for more than a week. During these days, the hackers managed to obtain the exact location of about 1,500 Russian units. The data was passed on to the Ukrainian army.
The hackers admitted to the German public media that they did not expect to obtain so much information. Another very important point, one of them shares, is the psychological effect of their operation. "Radio communications between Russian soldiers now show that they are experiencing panic fears even when trying to use their terminals."
The Russians are believed to have tried to find traitors in the ranks of the Ukrainian army who would help them register the Russian "Starlink" terminals through the established system of the Ministry of Defense in Kiev. The Ukrainian hackers, in turn, have received payments of about $6,000 in cryptocurrency for their "services", which they have already donated to the Ukrainian army.
Analysts believe that Russian troops will find a way to communicate effectively without "Starlink". However, their communication is unlikely to be as secure and stable as it was with the American satellite internet - at least not in the foreseeable future.