Moscow ended the brief "energy truce" on Sunday, February 1, having killed 12 coal mine workers with a swarm of drones and having launched a total of 90 long-range attack devices that same day.
On January 29, US President Donald Trump said he had personally asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, not to bomb Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for a week. The next day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded that the truce would only last until February 1.
However, the attack that killed 12 miners in Ternivka on Sunday, in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was unprecedented: The target, a bus traveling more than 70 kilometers from the nearest Russian positions, was struck by long-range Shahed-type drones. These are heavy drones mass-produced by Russia that carry explosive charges of up to 90 kg, and until very recently, as they were preprogrammed before launch, could only hit fixed targets. The ability to strike moving vehicles had previously been limited to smaller FPV (first-person view, or loitering munition) or Lancet drones carrying small explosives, with a range of up to 40 kilometers.
Behind these widely reported attacks, Ukrainian military personnel have observed, since mid-December 2025, a wave of strikes carried out by Russian drones equipped with the Starlink system. This system provides high-speed connectivity between the operator remaining in Russia and the loitering munitions, and its main threat lies in the technical impossibility for the Ukrainians to jam this signal, unlike other communication means used by the Russian military. Drones equipped in this way (Gueran, BM-35, Molnya), piloted in FPV, have enabled Moscow's troops over the past month to carry out precision strikes deep behind enemy lines (up to 100 kilometers), targeting mobile targets previously difficult to hit, such as military vehicles or air defense systems.
On January 29, Fedorov stated on X that he had contacted SpaceX, Starlink's parent company, "within hours of reports that Russian drones equipped with Starlink connectivity were operating over Ukrainian cities."
Two days later, SpaceX CEO and owner of X, Elon Musk, replied on his social network: "Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked." Starlink has found a way to disable any terminal moving at a speed greater than 90 km/h on Ukrainian territory. This measure is reportedly already effective against Russian drones, but also – as an unintended consequence – against Ukrainian vehicles equipped with mobile Starlink terminals.
As shocking as it may be, Musk blocked Russia's access to Starlink. Crazy, ik. Who knew the guy would help out Ukraine?
My mistake, I hit the paywall and came back without looking to see if there was more in the post here.
"unauthorized use of Starlink". Yeah right.