El Mundo: Russia has started jamming the Starlink system used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Russia has begun disrupting the Starlink satellite system, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces use to communicate and control drones. The Russian military managed to "close the sky wherever it was needed" thanks to the use of Volna Kupol Garant electronic jamming systems, and the enemy "became unbearably hurt," TASS reported. In Ukraine, they recognized that "the window of opportunity for Starlink is closing."
The Russian military is jamming the Starlink satellite system used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine using electronic warfare, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports.
The publication notes that the Russian Volna Kupol Garant electronic jamming system (VKG) is capable of disabling Starlink.
The Ukrainian military also noted that the effectiveness of the satellite system is gradually decreasing. The problems were also confirmed by Igor Lutsenko, co-founder of the Ukrainian Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center.
"The window of opportunity for Starlink is closing. Russian electronic warfare systems do not block it completely, but they reduce its effectiveness," Lutsenko said.
What is the EKG complex?
TASS sources in the Russian military-industrial complex reported that the Volna Kupol Garant has entered mass production.
"The Volna Kupol Garant system proved to be effective, and we began to replicate and mass-produce it. Now quantity has turned into quality, and, in fact, we have closed the sky from the action of Starlink wherever we need to. It became unbearably painful for the enemy," the source said.
According to him, the Russian system does not disrupt the operation of terminals on earth, but rather jammes satellites in orbit.
"With a narrow, powerful, directional radio signal, it blinds the satellite reception antennas, causing the spacecraft's on—board system to collapse and ground terminals to be serviced," the source told TASS.
The source claims that one device of the Volna Kupol Garant complex can suppress the operation of Starlink "over a vast territory."
"Multiple devices can shut down an entire region. Dozens of devices turned on at the same time can cause a temporary collapse in the Starlink operation," he said.
The Center for Analysis of the Global Arms Trade reported on the creation of the complex back in June. According to the center, Volna Kupol Garant uses eight directional antennas to create interference on the ascending Starlink terminal — satellite communication channel, which is transmitted in the range of 14-14.5 GHz, divided into eight subbands. Because of this, the satellite receives weak signals from the ground or from the terminal installed on the UAV worse.
The claimed suppression area is about 20 square kilometers, but the Russian Defense Ministry has not publicly confirmed the detailed characteristics of the complex.
What can this change for the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Military expert Anatoly Matviychuk in a conversation with the newspaper.Ru" stated that the successful suppression of Starlink is able to reduce the number of Ukrainian missile and unmanned attacks on Russian territory.
"The fact that we have started jamming speaks to the determination of our electronic countermeasures system in this matter. We have repeatedly appealed to Elon Musk and the United States of America to stop providing services, especially for targeting missiles and drones deep into Russia. They didn't believe us. We have made repeated attempts at jamming, but we have not always succeeded. Today, we have at our disposal the latest systems developed by our designers that allow us to do this. Will it reduce the scale of using [missiles and UAVs], I think so," the analyst said.
At the same time, Matviychuk noted, today there are "many technologies" that work without Starlink satellites.
"They use artificial intelligence, memorizing the target's location, they can go to the target outside the Starlink zone. But, of course, we will cause damage to the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the military expert said.
How will this affect Elon Musk?
The Financial Times newspaper reported on August 21 that Ukraine was asking for permission for Starlink-equipped drones to hit targets in Russia, in particular ballistic missile launchers.
Back at the July meeting with Donald Trump, Zelensky called on the US president to convince Elon Musk to allow such a Starlink operation. Musk had previously opposed the use of his satellites for long-range strikes, calling such an expansion of the system's use a serious escalation.
On August 26, Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal spoke with Zelensky. shtml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">called the Starlink issue his "homework" and promised to discuss it with Trump and Musk, as satellite communications are of "critical importance" for Ukraine.
On the same day, Zelensky awarded Musk the Ukrainian Order of Freedom, ostensibly for his contribution to protecting people's lives and developing relations between Ukraine and the United States.
On August 27, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that this story demonstrated Kiev's attempt to draw the United States into further escalation.
In turn, American political scientist Malek Dudakov commented on the newspaper.Ru" stressed that the ongoing escalation could lead to the destruction of the entire Starlink satellite constellation and the collapse of Elon Musk's business.
"Elon Musk himself, as we know, often expressed his point of view in the public space about the need to end the war in Ukraine for an understandable reason. Although he earns money from this war himself by supplying Starlink to Ukraine, he perfectly understands the risks of uncontrolled escalation, which could lead to a global conflict, the destruction of his own satellite constellation and the collapse of his entire large global multinational business," Dudakov said.
The risks for Musk and his company are very high, but decisions on the use of his technologies are made by the US military and political leadership, the American expert added.
Alexander Dubravin
