Yet, ironically, Starlink is not used for the long-range missions that target the Russian oil refineries about which Trump is so concerned, because it has long been disabled by the company inside Russia’s internationally recognised borders.
“There’s no meaningful effect on deep-strike operations,” one Ukrainian soldier said, while conceding there could be as much as a 30-fold drop in mid-strike operations because the alternatives are 30 times more expensive. Commanders are “replanning everything”, the soldier added, and aiming to find ways to carry on missions using different technologies and techniques.