Media: Russian Troops Began To Retreat In Zaporizhzhya Region

• 11.02.2026, 21:07

It's all "Musk's" fault.

Z-war correspondents' fears that Starlink's disconnection of satellite internet would undermine Russian troops on the front lines have begun to come true. Ukrainian forces have advanced in the Zaporizhia region after Russian units lost communications from Ilon Musk's company, a senior NATO official told The Moscow Times.

The alliance official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify exactly how much of Ukraine's recent successes could be directly linked to the loss of Russian access to Starlink. But he noted, "By losing that connection, Russia has been put in a somewhat difficult position in terms of operational control of its troops. Any alternative that Russia offers will probably not be as effective."

This is exactly what Z-bloggers warned about after Musk in early February shut down terminals that were not on Ukraine's compiled "white lists." "It will now become dramatically clear that units without communications cannot operate effectively. This will be news for some people in high offices," wrote Belorussian Silovik immediately after the incident. The Russian army "simply has no alternative to Starlink... a lot of things, including combat control, were tied to it," lamented "Military Observer."

"We are left without communication!" complained a Russian military officer in a video posted on the Telegram channel "Voenkory Russian Spring." The channel urged volunteers to urgently raise money to buy walkie-talkies: "Virtually on all fronts it has become difficult to control the troops, fighters write to us and ask us to help with equipment - radio bridges and radios."

Starlink terminals in Russian units worked illegally because they were smuggled in from other countries. They could be set up, among other things, because they were formally located on the territory of Ukraine, albeit occupied. The U.S. Defense Ministry even during the administration of Joe Biden began to discuss with Musk's SpaceX company, which provides communication services Starlink, the issue of deactivating terminals in the Russian troops. In the summer of 2024, the Pentagon announced the deactivation of hundreds of "left-wing" terminals.

But this did not fundamentally solve the problem, and the topic was not raised under Donald Trump.

Mikhail Fedorov, who previously served as Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, asked SpaceX to deactivate Russian terminals shortly after his appointment as defense minister in January. This included all vehicles not registered in Ukraine. The Russian army used them not only for communication, but recently even began to install them on combat drones to bypass Ukrainian defenses.

The AFU recorded a drop in combat activity immediately after the shutdown. A General Staff summary on Feb. 5 said there were 56 assaults on the Russian side, compared to 80-110 earlier.

Of late, both sides claimed to have made gains in the Zaporizhzhya region. On Wednesday, the AFU said it had recaptured the village of Kosivtsevo.

The Russian army, meanwhile, has almost completely taken the town of Gulyaypol in recent weeks. It is the last major settlement on the way to the regional capital Zaporizhzhya.