UKRAINE, Feb. 6 — Russians have communication problems because of the blocking of Starlink terminals that are not included in the whitelist. The situation forced them to return to old radio communication methods, said Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for a military group responsible for the Kharkiv oblast, to Gwara Media.

At the beginning of 2026, Russian forces started to use Starlink for drones, which made them difficult to shoot down because of their low flight height, resistance to electronic warfare, and real-time control over long distances.

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and Elon Musk’s SpaceX company started to work to prevent Russia from accessing terminals. 

On Feb. 2,  Myhailo Fedorov, the Minister of the Defence, introduced a “white list” of verified and registered Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military and businesses. After, SpaceX started to block all unregistered terminals, including those used by Russians.

“We have problems, and they have a catastrophe. If some of our Starlinks were not registered on time but we are doing it now, then they were not registered and still are not,” said Trehubov.

Trehubov compared the loss of Starlink for the Russians to using Kalashnikov assault rifles or old single-shot rifles in modern conditions. He said they don’t have any alternatives.

At the same time, Yurii Fedorenko, commander of the “Achilles” unit, said to Suspilne Ukraine that this problem isn’t that big for the Russian army.

“The enemy is not stupid, and they will look for an alternative. Now they will have a temporary failure. A month, two, three, until they find a solution on how to ensure something similar,” said Fedorenko.

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