Russian military Starlink terminals have been non-operational for two weeks, according to a senior Russian defense official. Deputy Defence Minister Aleksei Krivoruchko told state television that despite the outage, Russian drone operations have continued without interruption, citing objective monitoring data of enemy equipment damage.

Ukraine had previously claimed the disconnection severely impacted Russian military operations. Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated the terminals were disconnected, with other officials describing the effect on Russian capabilities as considerable. The discrepancy between Russian and Ukrainian assessments highlights the fog of war surrounding battlefield communications.

SpaceX's Starlink system serves as critical battlefield infrastructure, with Ukraine relying on tens of thousands of satellite connections for military communications and drone operations. The Russian military's ability to maintain drone effectiveness without Starlink access suggests either alternative communication systems or pre-existing redundancies in their unmanned operations. This development underscores the strategic importance of satellite communications in modern warfare and raises questions about the vulnerability of such systems to disruption.