Around 10 Russian jamming units built to knock out Starlink have been spotted so far, according to Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence ministry. The system is called Volna Kupol Garant. Beskrestnov said each unit can destabilise Starlink connections over roughly 20 square kilometres.
That matters because Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign leans on the service. Kyiv’s so-called mid-strike drones, many of them flown through Starlink, reach targets dozens of kilometres behind the front line: supply routes, fuel depots, air defence systems and command centres. The attacks have disrupted Russian logistics and helped cause fuel shortages in occupied Crimea. Starlink had long been regarded as hard to jam.
Ukrainian commanders told a news outlet the jammers have been set up near towns and military facilities, where they interfere with drones heading for Russian positions.
Hunting the jammers
Ukraine is going after the equipment itself. The 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment has helped destroy two Volna Kupol Garant installations in joint missions with the SBU security service. One was hit only hours after it was found.
A commander using the callsign “Dyryhent” said Starlink-equipped drones flew “without problems” once one of the sites was gone. Each working jammer can spoil drone missions, while each destroyed one restores Ukraine’s ability to strike precisely.
Russia changes how it moves supplies
Repeated drone strikes on supply lines have pushed Moscow to rethink its logistics, Ukrainian commanders say. Fuel is now being carried in water tankers and in trucks painted to look like milk delivery vehicles. Convoys are smaller, escorted by pick-ups with mounted machine guns, and sent along quieter roads to avoid being watched.
Ukraine’s military intelligence adds that Russian troops increasingly use civilian cars, motorbikes and quad bikes to bring fuel, ammunition and food closer to the front. Stocks are reportedly hidden in camouflaged dugouts, abandoned buildings, farm structures and even civilian petrol stations, all to cut the risk of a drone strike.
Starlink cuts both ways. Elon Musk has already blocked Russian forces from using it for their own drones, so Moscow can only try to deny Kyiv the network, not copy it.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, called Ukraine’s mid-strike drone campaign one of the most important battlefield developments this year. He warned, though, that if Russia expands production of its Starlink jammers, Ukraine’s drone operations could get steadily harder.
