Russian forces are deploying electronic warfare systems to jam the Starlink satellite network and blunt Ukrainian medium-range drone strikes, Ukrainian commanders and drone operators told Reuters.
Russia is using the approach to counter drones capable of hitting targets dozens of kilometers behind the front line — aircraft used to strike fuel depots, command posts, air defense assets, and other logistics infrastructure. Starlink is central to those operations, allowing operators to control the drones over long distances.
Ukrainian military personnel say Russian forces have begun positioning powerful communications jamming systems near military facilities and populated areas. One such system, called Volna Kupol Garant, can disrupt Starlink coverage across an area of 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles), according to the sources.
Ukrainian forces have identified roughly 10 such systems so far and have begun targeting them with drones. A crew commander in the 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment, who goes by the call sign “Dyryhent,” told reporters he had taken part in destroying one of them. “As soon as we struck that installation, our Starlink-equipped [drones] flew without problems,” he said.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Russia is gradually making some progress in countering Ukrainian drones. “If they scale production of the jammers, they could make it more difficult to conduct the middle-strike campaign,” he said.
Starlink satellite communications are not officially available in Russia, but the Russian military has used terminals to launch drones that it uses to attack Ukraine. The terminals reach Russia illegally, through third countries. In late January, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov appealed to SpaceX head Elon Musk to prevent Russia from using Starlink. Musk said the company had taken action. After that, pro-war bloggers reported that Starlink terminals had gone offline en masse at the front.
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