Starlink Shutdown Again: Why Starlink Matters So Much

February 5, 2026February 5, 2026

Understanding why Starlink matters so much requires looking military angles. Recently a series of reports appeared that the enemy started mounting Starlink terminals on their strike drones. They gained online control capability. We wrote about such cases, for example here and here. Shot-down Shaheds equipped with Starlink terminals became a weighty argument for appealing to company management with a proposal to develop measures for blocking “black” terminals.

The commercial side of this issue has two important aspects. The manufacturer and service operator gives official permission to use this complex in a specific country. Without it, any use is illegal and violates the company’s copyright and commercial rights.

Plus, any company and its country of registration’s government either allows or doesn’t allow use of their product for military purposes. Obviously, the Orcs¹ have neither, so they piratically use Starlink terminals brought from Europe or Turkey for military purposes. Thus, Ukraine’s appeal couldn’t be ignored not only due to image loss but also because the Orcs created a very unpleasant precedent for Musk.

The Company Takes Action

So the company took on disconnecting “black” terminals. First reports on this topic came down to terminals automatically disconnecting when exceeding permissible movement speed. They explained that drones can’t fly slower and therefore will definitely exceed this speed, leading to automatic device disconnection.

But as it turned out, other measures went into play that “laid out” not just high-speed devices but everything bearing “black” or “gray” character. And here the depth of that rabbit hole the Orcs had connected with Starlink became clear. Here’s what their press writes today citing “military correspondents”:

Russian military in Ukraine lost Starlink satellite communication terminals. Starlinks ‘went down’ across the entire front. “Thirteenth”, “Two Majors”, “Military Observer” and “Belarusian Silovik” confirmed this. The latter noted that almost 90% of units lack satellite communication. Now it will sharply become clear that units without communication can’t work effectively. This will be news for some in high offices.

This will hit forward assault consolidation groups hardest, for example in Kupyansk. They lost any possibility for communication with the mainland. Meanwhile “Military Observer” reminded that no alternative to Starlink exists in the russian army. Many things, including combat control, were tied to it and everyone took everything for granted.

Panic Sets In

Panic truly arose there. It turned out the entire frontline Pidars² communication has long worked on Starlinks, and combat control at operational and even tactical levels runs under them too. Here’s a small illustration of what they write right now:

Reading all these messages raises only one question: “Wait, you could do that?” For several years already, Pidars have used Starlinks both on temporarily occupied territories and on the line of contact. Enemy tank commanders saw pictures from enemy drones only thanks to Starlink. And Musk’s company saw where their devices worked and knew precisely they shouldn’t work there. This looked as if for Musk “money has no smell”.

It looks very much like the Orcs’ use of Starlinks on Shaheds became the lever that forced Musk to certain actions. After all, Shaheds can’t work against military targets because such a slow and loud target proves very simple to shoot down. Shaheds work exclusively against civilian objects — therefore, this is exclusively terror weapons. Therefore, it’s quite likely that Musk weighed his company’s reputational losses if he continued providing services to the Orcs, and these losses turned out larger than money from the Orcs. Why Starlink matters so much becomes clear when you realize entire tactical operations depended on unauthorized terminals functioning in war zones.

Simple Axiom Confirmed

However it may be, we long ago learned a simple axiom: if the Orcs howl on the Swamps³ — something good happened.

After all, it’s no secret to anyone that after losing most of their armored vehicles, Pidars act in small groups. The focus of this tactic lies in Pidars infiltrating in “pairs” behind the line of contact and accumulating in a designated place. After a larger group gathers, they get Starlink for communication with command and coordination of their strike assets and logistics. And because no solid front line exists, the group can receive reinforcements and main types of support. And here stable communication becomes the foundation of this entire tactic. Without communication all this will collapse literally in a few days.

So let’s watch how events develop, but for now the news looks good for us and bad for the enemy. Pidars already started writing obscene words about Musk on Shaheds — meaning Starlink communication loss upset them quite thoroughly. Why Starlink matters so much just got demonstrated in the most spectacular way possible: the entire front’s operational structure collapsed when access disappeared.

Orcs – a common term for Russians who support or participate in the armed aggression against Ukraine. Dehumanizing? Yes. Accurate? Also yes.

Pidar (pronounced “pidar”) – Ukrainian military slang for a Russian service member. In radio communications, the word “Pidar” sounds shorter and clearer than “Enemy” especially under EW.

Swamps – an ironic name for Russia, emphasizing decay, stagnation, and filth. The Commander of the USF, Robert Browdie, and most soldiers use this word.