Photo: Only authorized Starlink terminals will operate in Ukraine. Courtesy of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine @DefenceU via X Russia’s so-called “energy ceasefire,” brokered by Donald Trump, went largely unnoticed in Ukraine. Deliberate strikes on civilian infrastructure continued, with targets including a passenger train, a bus carrying miners, and a maternity hospital. These attacks […]
Menej ako 1 min.
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Russia’s so-called “energy ceasefire,” brokered by Donald Trump, went largely unnoticed in Ukraine. Deliberate strikes on civilian infrastructure continued, with targets including a passenger train, a bus carrying miners, and a maternity hospital.
These attacks are likely to continue in the coming weeks, despite a positive solution reached between Ukraine and SpaceX regarding restrictions preventing Russian use of Starlink terminals.
In the coming days, Ukraine is expected to face another wave of extreme frost and potentially new Russian salvos, as the so-called “ceasefire” expired on February 1.
In this edition:
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Ukraine Works with SpaceX to Limit Russian Use of Starlink;
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Mirage 2000-5 and Its Core Functions in Ukraine;
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Ukrainian F-16 Pilot on the Realities of the Air War;
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10+ additional developments in Ukraine and Russia.
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Ukraine Works with SpaceX to Limit Russian Use of Starlink
Ukraine and SpaceX have taken initial steps in countering Russian drones using Starlink terminals. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his company appears to have successfully blocked Russia from „unauthorized“ use of Starlink internet systems in Ukraine.
SpaceX has limited the movement speed of Starlink terminals in Ukraine to 75-90 km/h. Reports of terminals being flagged for excessive movement speed began appearing on Feb.1 in Ukraine’s Facebook group “Narodnyi Starlink” (People’s Starlink).
These measures are considered temporary or emergency solutions and will be replaced by a global, well-thought-out solution, which will take time, according to the advisor to the Minister of Defence, Serhiy FLASH Beskrestnov.
The next step will be implementing a system that allows only authorized Starlink terminals to operate in Ukraine. In the coming days, instructions for Ukrainian users on Starlink registration and verification will be published. Unverified terminals will be disconnected.
The registration process is expected to be simple, fast, and user-friendly.
In the meantime, Russians hope that the Starlink restrictions will also affect Ukrainian long-range drones and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs).
“The operator-imposed limitation affects both Russian and Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs. Ukrainian Armed Forces are prepared to accept this constraint, given the significant damage caused by Russian “Italmas” and “Geran” long-range drones. At the same time, the speed cap may also ground Ukrainian Magura V5 uncrewed surface vessels, which are capable of reaching speeds of up to 80 km/h”, according to Voennyi Obozrevatel.
FLASH wrote that since Ukraine has closed the Starlink loophole for Russians, they will now return to mesh modem–based control. It is another solution for enabling online control of UAVs. “Mesh modems on UAVs can be effectively suppressed. Ideally, DDS-based jamming is preferable, but even basic Chinese jamming modules affect mesh modems. Even at around 40% effectiveness, they are still valuable due to their low cost and scalability”, FLASH added.
On February 1, another attack involving online-controlled Shahed drones was carried out in Dnipropetrovsk oblast of Ukraine. A Russian UAV struck a company shuttle bus carrying miners, killing 15 people and injuring 15 others. According to FLASH, a group of Shahed drones, operating under real-time remote control via mesh radio modems, was flying along a road. The operator of the first Shahed spotted a bus below and decided to attack it.
The drone struck near the bus. As a result of the blast wave, the driver lost control and crashed into a fence. Injured passengers began evacuating the bus, helping one another.
At that moment, the operator of a second Shahed saw the people outside and deliberately redirected the drone directly at the civilians.
The operators, acting from the territory of Russia, clearly saw and identified the target as civilian, understood that these were not military personnel, and made a conscious decision to carry out the attack.
This is not an isolated case of Russia’s deliberate use of drones against Ukrainian civilians. Check my earlier reports:
Mirage 2000-5 and Its Core Functions in Ukraine
Ukraine expects additional Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets from France, as well as missiles for various weapons systems. This was stated on social media by Ukraine’s Defence Minister Fedorov following a conversation with his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin.
