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Russian offensive appears to be slowing after Musk blocks Starlink access, Ukraine says
(www.politico.eu)
this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026
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I am doubtful that starlink had any measurable impact. Are they telling us that superpower Russia is unable to provide wireless communications for their soldiers on the front lines bordering their own country? As if Russia didn't have it's won satelites, cell towers they could build, which are line of sight, and other methods like sending signals over power lines.
I believe that for whatever reason they may have been using it, and enjoying the extra bandwidth, and that they had a lull retooling after it's cut off. I don't believe that Russia is dependent on Elon Musk's shitty satelite internet, which by all accounts is worlds worse than fiber optics.
You can doubt all you like but there's a lot of documented cases of Russia using SL on their drones and in their command bunkers, too many to be easily denied.
Russia isn't a superpower. In all ways but their nuclear arsenal they are at best a regional power.
Russia has very few satellites and perhaps only a handful of modern ones. They could build cell towers...and then Ukraine will blow them the fuck up, jam them, or listen to their comms. Signals over power lines? What power lines?
Again, what you believe may not match reality.
It would not be the first time I overestimated Russia honestly, your criticisms there may not be without merit. The fact of the matter is Russia is fascist, and fascists don't end up with good leadership or stewardship of the economy. Just as they don't even make the components for advanced weapons systems that they once reverse engineered from western weapons (and consumer goods for that matter,) perhaps they've let their capability to make and use the internet languish.
I am aware it's not just me the military industrial complex has always overplayed the russians capability to justify higher spending. Even as other parts of the establishment show their failures.
I guess however, if Musk's satelites were an integral part of their operation they can't replace, they failed. If anyone goes through a window, it should be whomever is in charge of making sure they had communications and instead took payoffs for overpriced projects that didn't deliver, which is likely the case a thousand times over.
They should have the capability, and especially now this far into the war, there is no excuse, this is rank failure of Russia, an example of how fascism/one party states don't work.