Starlink-enabled drones hitting the rear: how Russia has obtained Starlink and Ukraine's potential response
The Russian military has stepped up its use of drones equipped with Starlink terminals that Ukrainian defenders refer to jokingly as "Starlinkoloty". The Starlink system, which provides broadband internet access in remote locations, gives the drones a stable communications link, enabling Russian forces to operate them over long distances, bypass electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures and carry out strikes deep in Ukraine's rear.
Defence Intelligence of Ukraine first flagged the threat in early summer 2025, following the discovery of debris from Shahed loitering munitions that had been fitted with satellite communication terminals.
Ukraine has also adopted the Starlink tactic for its drones, although its use is constrained. Starlink's operations are banned in Russia, preventing Ukrainian drones from being fully deployed in Russia's rear. The absence of comparable restrictions over Ukraine has created an asymmetry, enabling Russian forces to conduct precision strikes hundreds of kilometres deep.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has joined forces with SpaceX, the manufacturer of Starlink, to tackle the threat. Ukrainska Pravda tells the story of Starlink-enabled drones in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Invented in Ukraine
The first months of Starlink's use in the war highlighted its key advantage: stable, high-speed communications even amid intense Russian EW interference. This enabled Ukrainian forces to effectively adjust artillery fire, conduct surveillance and manage operations from headquarters, essentially extending the reach of combat command-and-control. The full potential of the systems, however, became apparent later.
The Ukrainian military and engineers began exploring the use of Starlink on drones almost as soon as the first kits arrived in Ukraine. Developers of the Nemesis bomber drone were among the first to pursue the idea. Integrating satellite communications overcame the limitations of conventional radio channels, enabling drones to be controlled from anywhere in the world. The approach was quickly adopted by other teams, spawning a range of Starlink-equipped drones.
Ukraine's next step with Starlink came with uncrewed surface vessels, which helped break Moscow's blockade of the Black Sea and tilt the strategic balance so decisively that Russian warships now rarely venture from their harbours.
However, one of the first naval attacks revealed Starlink's key limitation: vulnerability to external control. Midway through the operation, SpaceX shut down the terminals used to guide the drones due to CEO Elon Musk's concerns about an escalation of the war.
Despite the challenges, Starlink has become more widely used by Ukraine's armed forces, powering ground-based robotic systems that conduct evacuations where other communication networks are unavailable.
Starlink also found its place in "middle-strikes" – mid-range drones that can be controlled over tens or even hundreds of kilometres and can carry various types of warheads weighing up to 100 kg. The Khaki-20 quickly became one of the most popular models. The Prymary (Phantoms) unit from Defence Intelligence of Ukraine uses them to strike Russian radar stations, air defence systems and even helicopters and aircraft.
Drone strikes and operations using Starlink-enabled drones take place exclusively on Ukrainian soil – no such activities have been reported inside Russia. The reason is simple: SpaceX blocks Starlink's use over Russian territory, preventing terminals from functioning there.
Seeing the effectiveness of Ukraine's approach, Russian forces tried to replicate it with their own drones, taking advantage of the fact that they faced no restrictions over Ukrainian territory.
Russia's Starlink-enabled drones
To get Starlink terminals onto their drones, the Russians likely tapped the same channels they had already used to supply their forces. Their initial attempt to acquire the terminals was meant to compensate for limited satellite communications, giving rise to the supply networks still in place today.
"They have a network of certain individuals," Pavel Luzin, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and the Saratoga Foundation, told Ukrainska Pravda. "They purchase terminals in various countries, pay the subscription fees and transport them to hubs – typically cities near the Russian border. From there, the devices are centrally distributed across the country."
Similar networks have already caught the attention of OSINT researchers. InformNapalm and Nordsint, for instance, have exposed supply routes via the UAE and Kyrgyzstan. Despite clear evidence and repeated statements from Ukrainian authorities and intelligence officials, SpaceX owner Elon Musk has continued to deny both direct and indirect sales of Starlink terminals to Russia. Even after their use by Russian forces was documented, no coordinated response came from either SpaceX or Ukrainian authorities for an extended period.
The possibility of Russian forces using Starlink on Shahed loitering munitions was reported by Ukrainska Pravda in summer 2025, when debris from drones carrying the terminals was found for the first time.
"Their [Russia's] first efforts to install communication systems came in early 2025 – the connections were unreliable, and the drones were vulnerable to jamming," Maksym Skoretskyi, head of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Electronic Warfare Department, told Ukrainska Pravda. "It was only about five months ago that they began actively testing Starlink and MESH systems."
MESH systems enable the control signal to hop between drones via a UAV repeater, significantly increasing the range of radio control. The Russians employed this technology to carry out an attack on a passenger train in Zhytomyr, a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine, about 140 km from Kyiv.
As more terminals became available, the Russians expanded their experiments to platforms beyond Shahed drones. Cheap plywood Molniya drones, already a threat to Ukraine's rear positions, have gained increased capabilities with Starlink and have been recorded hitting targets up to 50 km from the front.
However, the BM-35 drone, also known as Italmas, emerged as the most common carrier of Starlink terminals. Petrol-powered and structurally similar to a smaller Shahed, the BM-35 can carry a combat load of up to 27 kg, depending on its flight range. The Russians claim that it has a range of 500 km, but recorded operations show distances of up to 200 km.
The author of Potuzhnyi Informator, a Telegram channel monitoring Russian drone operations, said, "We first saw them in December 2023. After a pause, mass deployment began in 2025 as UAV units expanded – and it is these drones that create the most challenges."
The analyst noted that these drones are mostly sent to large, "innovative" units such as Rubicon. The units meticulously tested the design and equipment over time, and once the first successful strikes were achieved, their deployment was rapidly scaled up.
However, these drones have apparent limitations. Their relatively small payload means a target can be reliably destroyed only by a direct hit. Near misses cause significantly less damage, while accurate targeting remains challenging, particularly because of the drones' low flight altitude.
Even with their drawbacks, Starlink-equipped drones have proved highly damaging. They have been used against ports, civilian infrastructure, rear-area facilities and radar stations. Two F-16ADF fighter jets hit by these drones were likely used as decoys by Ukraine's defence forces.
A difficult target
The effectiveness of these drones comes largely from their difficulty in being detected and shot down. Satellite communications prevent them from being picked up by radio-electronic reconnaissance, while a stable control channel enables them to operate at low altitudes under manual control. This reduces their visibility to both radar and visual observation, and individual drones have been able to fly into cities, bypassing air defences.
If these drones had multiplied further, Ukraine's defence forces would have had to deploy more visual observation teams, capable of either taking action against the targets or swiftly alerting short-range air defence units.
Conventional electronic warfare systems have proved ineffective, as jamming Starlink requires a strong signal very close to the terminal.
"We expected them eventually, but not this fast," Skoretskyi told Ukrainska Pravda. "We needed time to fine-tune the systems designed to counter the threat."
The secret lies in Starlink's architecture. With thousands of low-orbit satellites in constant motion, the terminals can jump between connections, sharply limiting the impact of conventional electronic warfare. Even sophisticated Russian EW struggled to jam them at the front, especially with regular software updates keeping them ahead.
Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister, explained that the Russians have taken a new approach. Rather than interfering with the satellite link, they are targeting the GPS module, a critical component for Starlink terminals to communicate with satellites effectively.
Skoretskyi said the emergence of Starlink terminals has prompted the Ukrainian military to roll out specialised systems designed to jam drones.
He noted, "We employ other technologies that are costly and complex, yet effective. Conceptually, this resembles cyber interference rather than conventional radio jamming," but Skoretskyi did not provide further details because of the subject's sensitivity.
However, Ukraine lacks both the technical capabilities and personnel to systematically counter dozens, and potentially hundreds, of Starlink-enabled drones.
This has pushed the search for a solution to a higher level. The ability of Russian forces to use Starlink on drones stems mainly from access to SpaceX services, which are not officially available in Russia. Resolving the problem, therefore, demanded political action from both the government and the manufacturer.
Starlink on drones is just the beginning
Starlink-enabled Russian drones have become one of the first serious tests for Mykhailo Fedorov in his role as Ukraine's new defence minister. As the digital transformation minister, he had previously requested that Elon Musk grant Ukraine access to Starlink. He has now had to contact Musk again following the extended use of these terminals by Russian forces, which has ultimately resulted in attacks on Ukrainians.
The first practical step to tackle the issue was to restrict all Starlink terminals operating in Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda has found that if a terminal moves for more than two minutes at speeds above 90 km/h, its access to communication is automatically blocked.
According to Russian bloggers, these restrictions have severely hindered the use of unmanned flying vehicles. Drones flying slowly are more exposed to being shot down, while higher speeds break their connection. The changes have also had consequences for the Ukrainian forces.
The first challenges came with drones flying at or above the set speed threshold. In some cases, these can be both mid-range drones and bomber UAVs.
The measure, however, has little effect on other unmanned aerial or naval platforms. Ukraine's well-known unmanned boats, Magura V5 and Sea Baby, cruise at roughly 45 km/h, with a maximum of 78 km/h, while unmanned ground vehicles usually travel at just 5-15 km/h.
According to Beskrestnov, the restrictions are temporary. They are intended to pave the way for a more comprehensive measure – terminal verification. Before Russian terminals can be disabled, it is essential to determine which terminals in Ukraine belong to the country's defence forces.
Ukrainian troops will be able to register their terminals through the Delta situational awareness system, while civilians and businesses will use Administrative Services Centres or the Diia app. Registration deadlines have yet to be set. If adopted, the measure could not only neutralise Starlink-enabled drones, but also severely limit Russian use of the terminals.
However, the problem of long-range drones does not end with shutting down Starlink. Russia is already using alternative long-distance communication solutions, in particular MESH systems that relay signals between drones.
"The problem with Starlink isn't the central issue here. If Russia has created a system to hit the rear using cheap loitering munitions, the communication method in secondary," reads a Facebook post by Oleksandr "Serhii Marko" Karpiuk, a soldier from the 2nd Inquisition Battalion of Ukraine's 59th Separate Assault Brigade.
Karpiuk believes the key task is to prepare for new Russian technologies by covering roads with protective nets, boosting the number of short-range air defence systems and anti-drone crews and organising the rear into brigade-level sectors.
In conclusion, the move to require Starlink verification is, above all, a way to buy time while preparing for Russia's next step in extending the range and autonomy of its drones.
Author: Illia Volynskyi
Translation: Artem Yakymyshyn
Editing: Susan McDonald