Inside Ukrainian offensive pushing Russia back - with Starlink playing a key role — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Operation Vivaldi liberated 277 sq km in eastern Donbas over roughly three months, blunting a Russian pincer movement that threatened to encircle the Fortress Belt cities still under Ukrainian control
- Ukraine claims 8,000 Russian casualties in Vivaldi alone and close to 50,000 along the front in September, with the Institute for the Study of War reporting that pro-Russian military bloggers acknowledged the advances — though no Russian official has publicly confirmed them
- Starshield — the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink — provides broadband connectivity across the battlefield and is described as vital for interceptor and mid-range strike drones
- Kyiv said this week that Starshield had restrictions imposed without warning limiting its capability, with Musk and media reports suggesting the order came from the White House, sparking "major concern" in Ukraine
- Drones and ground robots led the assault for the first time, with remote-controlled explosive vehicles dropped behind Russian lines — leading to 250 Russian surrenders and the liberation of 16 settlements in the year-long campaign
- Volodymyr Zelensky said he felt "betrayed" by Trump this week, while Trump declared Zelensky "not a fan" material and harder to deal with than Putin, blaming Ukraine's refinery strikes for rising oil prices — a claim Ukraine rejects by pointing to US and Israeli action against Iran
Why it matters: Washington holds a reportedly unilateral off-switch over Starshield, the connectivity layer underpinning Kyiv's drone-led offensives — just as Operation Vivaldi created a bridgehead the Revenge Brigade's chief of staff calls "a building block towards victory." Trump publicly compared Zelensky unfavorably to Putin this week even as Ukraine claimed close to 50,000 Russian casualties along the front in September.
Ask SkimNews
