Blocking of Starlink leads to ‘friendly fire’ incidents in the Russian army
The Russian Armed Forces are experiencing widespread failures of Starlink terminals, which has effectively paralysed troop command and control and led to incidents of so-called “friendly fire” on the front line.
This was reported on Telegram by the partisan movement ATESH.
“Our sources from the 122nd Motor Rifle Regiment (Kupiansk direction) and the 1152nd Regiment (Zaporizhzhia direction) report the same situation — command and control have been effectively paralysed,” the statement said.
According to the partisans, Russian units are facing an almost complete failure of Starlink terminals, leaving Russian signal troops in despair. In particular:
- attempts to deploy backup communication channels have failed;
- standard electronic warfare systems are regularly jamming communications, including their own radio equipment.
“Without stable communications on the front line, chaos begins. The lack of coordination is already leading to heavy losses — and not only from the enemy,” ATESH stated.
On the Zaporizhzhia front, a complete breakdown in communications reportedly resulted in a “friendly fire” incident. Russian units, lacking information about each other’s positions, opened fire on their own forces. As a result, an assault group of 12 soldiers was destroyed.
“The Russian army’s dependence on civilian technologies has worked against it. As soon as communications disappear, command collapses and troops begin to destroy one another,” the partisan movement emphasised.
In recent days, Russian forces on the front line have faced serious difficulties due to the blocking of Starlink terminals. Command and control have been hampered, and assault operations have been partially suspended.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to verify Starlink terminals. The first batch of terminals added to the “white list” is already operational.
Earlier reports claimed that on the evening of 4 February, Starlink satellite communications partially stopped working on both sides of the front line.
Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, Mykhailo Fedorov, previously called on commanders of the Defence Forces at all levels to organise the verification of Starlink terminals, stressing the need to submit terminal numbers via the DELTA system for inclusion in the “white list”.
