Russia was preparing a counteroffensive at sea for 2026, but one event thwarted the plans, – Flash

3 min.1913

The Russians intended, if not to return the sea to their control, then to block it for Ukraine.

Russia planned a major campaign using naval drones for 2026 , but these plans were thwarted after SpaceX blocked Russian StarLink satellite communications at the request of Kyiv at the beginning of the year. This was reported in his Telegram by Serhiy (Flash) Beskrestnov, an expert in communications systems and advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

According to him, Russia immediately began attempts to copy Ukrainian naval drones as soon as it saw their effectiveness in the hands of the Defense Forces. By the summer of last year, the Russians had working models, and in August the enemy even carried out a successful attack on the ship “Simferopol” in the Danube Delta. In addition, according to Flesch, there were other attacks by Russian naval drones on objects along the Ukrainian coast.

“2026 was supposed to be the year of the massive use of the BEK (unmanned aerial vehicle – UNIAN) by the enemy. But all plans were ruined by the shutdown of Starlink at the beginning of 2026,” writes the advisor to the Minister of Defense.

According to Beskrestnov, the aggressor never managed to provide the naval drones with their own Russian communications. Flash lists various communication systems that the Russians tried to use, but due to technical limitations, all of these options either did not work at all or were too unreliable and inconvenient.

It was eventually discovered that StarLink terminals were the only viable communication channel for maritime drones off the Ukrainian coast. But now the Russians have no access to this technology.

“Of course, we cannot underestimate our enemy. They really want to use BEKs, which, moreover, have already been built. I roughly understand where they will go next. We’ll see,” summarizes Serhiy Beskrestnov.

(c)UNIAN 2026