La perte de Starlink, un caillou dans la botte des Russes en Ukraine
The Starlink network shutdown imposed by Elon Musk on Russian forces in Ukraine has probably disrupted their tactical command structure and limited their offensive capability, but its long-term effects remain uncertain.
Two things: They equip drones with Starlink antennas, which makes them more efficient by extending their range and making them harder to jam.
Also and above all, they use it to streamline their communications and the "command and control" (C2) structure, which is "the organization of the operational chain that allows the military at the top to give orders to all levels of responsibility, down to the combatants," explains a Western military source.
And in this area, "all armies that have a little money and need bandwidth use Starlink. It's flexible, it's not expensive, and it complements military systems that do not allow for increased bandwidth," this source summarizes.
In Ukraine, the American network "allowed Russian units to control their forces and drones in real time, to have an overview of the line of contact and to make appropriate decisions," summarizes Yuriy Fedorenko, commander of the 429th Ukrainian drone brigade Achilles, on Freedom TV.
This need is all the more vital given the configuration of the Ukrainian front.
"There is no actual front line where the armies are in contact. It is a 'kill zone' several kilometers wide, overflown by drones, where small mobile squads operate, trying to carry out strikes here and there," a very high-ranking European officer explained to AFP.
"Many Russian soldiers are constantly on the move there. These are nerve centers," Serhiy Beskrestnov, advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for technology, told AFP.
The Ukrainians consider these figures enormous, claiming that the Russians have a real dependence on Starlink. AFP is unable to independently verify this.
"For the Russians, this isn't just a problem, it's a catastrophe," said Mr. Beskrestnov. "We knew they were using Starlink on the front lines," but "we didn't think it was this crucial."
On the Russian side, they are downplaying the issue. According to Valery Tichkov, head of communications for the Russian armed forces, Starlink is only used marginally and the Russian army "has all the modern domestically produced communication services. The operations control system works reliably and guarantees the command and control of troops at the front."
According to several Ukrainian sources, they are attempting to bribe Ukrainian citizens to register legitimate Starlink satellites for use on the front lines. "The SBU warns: this is a crime," punishable by life imprisonment, the Ukrainian security service cautioned.
They are also deploying their own satellite solutions, the Ukrainians confirm, but these are not as flexible as the connections with the Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. These are high-speed links with the Russian geostationary satellites Yamal and Express, which are farther away and fewer in number.
Furthermore, "a satellite receiver equipped with a large parabolic antenna is needed," a prime target for the Ukrainians, says Mr. Beskrestnov. "The Russians have understood this and are pushing them back 10 to 15 kilometers and deploying a Wi-Fi bridge from the receivers to the front lines. We are trying to locate these terminals."
Ukrainian armed forces managed in February to regain ground, a rare phenomenon as the trend is one of slow erosion by the Russians.
"In one day, we conducted counter-attacks along the entire contact line. Some were successful," a senior Ukrainian military official told AFP, without providing further details.
Ukrainian military personnel "are likely taking advantage of the recent blocking of Russian forces' access to Starlink", suggests the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
However, the general situation in Ukraine and the very configuration of the front are not conducive to spectacular developments, as the European military source points out: "Very few men are making direct contact with the soldiers on the other side, and there is no mechanized combat (which would allow us to exploit a possible breakthrough, editor's note), it is going very slowly."
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