Musk shut down Starlink during Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive in 2022 - Reuters

According to Reuters, during Ukraine's attempt in September 2022 to reclaim occupied territories, Musk gave an order that disrupted the counteroffensive and "dented Kyiv’s trust in Starlink."

According to the outlet's sources, Musk told a senior engineer at SpaceX’s California offices, which controls Starlink, to reduce coverage in areas including Kherson, a strategic region north of the Black Sea that Ukraine was trying to retake.

Musk’s employees carried out his order by deactivating at least a hundred Starlink terminals. It is noted that the shutdown likely affected territories controlled by Russia as well, including parts of the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian sources told the media outlet that during the shutdown, the military lost communication with drones monitoring Russian troops and with artillery units that relied on Starlink to target fire while trying to hit targets.

The Starlink shutdown resulted in Ukrainian forces failing to encircle the Russian position in the city of Beryslav, east of Kherson. Despite this, during the counteroffensive, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to retake Beryslav, Kherson, and some additional territories occupied by Russia.

What is known about Starlink

On Thursday evening, July 24, reports began circulating online about problems with Starlink terminals, including at the front lines in Ukraine. Problems were reported in various directions, and in particular, Ukrainian military personnel experienced difficulties connecting to drones.

Later, Starlink stated that they were working to identify the cause of the malfunction and to restore service. Shortly afterward, billionaire and company owner Elon Musk responded. He apologized for the outage and said that the service would be restored shortly.