SpaceX Starlink cuts hobbled Ukraine before Russian bombardment
nationalpost.com

... Restrictions on Ukraine's use of SpaceX's satellite technology came just weeks after its forces relied on the network for a surprising and successful counter-offensive that retook critical territory from Russian forces.
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The temporary limits landed ahead of a fresh Russian bombardment, hobbling Ukraine's air defense interceptors -- which rely on a militarized version of SpaceX's Starlink known as Starshield -- and spurring a blame game as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused President Donald Trump and SpaceX chief Elon Musk of allowing it to happen.

Amid fresh outrage from U.S. lawmakers about the Russian attack and simmering White House frustration about Kyiv's long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, what was less obvious was just how essential the Starshield platform was to Ukraine's recent efforts pushing back Russian forces inside its own territory.

That campaign -- known as Operational Vivaldi -- concluded this month after liberating more than a dozen Ukrainian settlements, preventing Russian forces from capturing all of the crucial Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces used the satellite terminals to remotely drive drones, bombs and robots both into and behind the Kremlin's forces, where they destroyed heavily fortified positions and isolated Russia's logistics hubs.
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The unit responsible said last month that Starlink was the primary platform it used to carry out the operation.

"We're dependent on Starlink to maintain connectivity of our people, command centers, soldiers, drones," said John Roberts, a senior U.S. military adviser to the Ukrainian third army corps, which launched Vivaldi. "As a product we love it and want to keep using it. There's not an alternative that's as easy to use." ...