Anastasia Ryabokon10:15 PM, October 14, 2026

All medium-range operations in the occupied part of Ukraine were stopped.

The Ukrainian Defense Forces’ high-speed drones were left without communication after a sudden Starlink shutdown . As military officials told Politico , multiple areas of military operations were affected.

“This is comparable to a nuclear strike on us. All operations are suspended. This will cost many of us our lives,” said one officer who commands a medium-range attack drone unit in southeastern Ukraine.

According to him, the unit relies heavily on the Starlink system to control and navigate Hornet drones, which are used to strike targets at ranges of up to 150 kilometers. Meanwhile, in their area, the speed limit dropped sharply to 100 kilometers per hour at night. Operators of ground drones and small attack drones also faced restrictions.

“On the night of October 14, without prior notification to the Defense Forces, SpaceX unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals while they were in motion,” a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesperson, quoted by the publication, told reporters in Kyiv. According to him, problems occur at speeds between 72 and 161 km/h, “depending on the specific vehicle and component.”

This disrupted attacks on Russian logistics and left Ukrainian troops on the front lines with less support. Specifically, all “medium-range strike operations” were halted. This included strikes on targets in the occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast, on the Rostov-Crimea highway, which runs through the southern regions of Ukraine, and targets in Crimea itself.

“We can’t fight effectively while supporting our infantry on the battlefield. We can’t strike multiple rocket launchers, heavy self-propelled artillery units supplied by North Korea located deep behind enemy lines, ammunition depots, command centers, and other targets,” one officer told the publication.

The military fears that a pause in attacks will give the enemy an opportunity to strengthen its positions, including building up the occupying forces in Crimea.

There were already problems with communication

The authors cited questions Ukrainian commanders have been asking for several years: how much battlefield communications in the country might depend on a service controlled by an American company.

One pilot reported serious communications problems on September 11 and 12, and further disruptions on September 17. He said soldiers from several Ukrainian units encountered similar issues. However, he asserted that Russian electronic warfare equipment would be unlikely to cause such persistent disruptions across several sectors of the front.

(C)UNIAN 2026