It will not be easy to break Ukraine’s dependence on Starlink in war

Ukraine is dependent on satellite communications from the starlink of Elon Musk in a war, which has reduced the country’s telecom infrastructure, finding that there is no easy way.

As President Donald Trump’s relations with the administration deteriorated, the country has intensified processes to find other options that pull the plug. Ukraine is considering going to European satellite providers, and when installed a lattice of antennas, modes and cables on the ground, officers and military personnel told Bloomberg.

But there are deficiencies in options, and the country cannot be delayed. If it loses access, he said.

The French satellite company Eultsat Communications SA, which operates the second largest low-earth class satellite service after the Starlink, has put itself forward as the most viable option. Investors agreed, the company’s share cost about six times after the public logic at Trump and Ukrainian President Volodimier Zelanski’s White House.

Nevertheless, Chief Executive Officer Eva Burneke said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday that his company “a few months” and financial assistance is required to provide 40,000 terminals to Ukraine to change the starlink in the country.

While Musk has not said that he will withdraw the Starlink access, Ukraine is constantly losing ground for Russian forces and gradually not luxury to roll an alternative service. The US has also stopped military assistance and banned intelligence sharing with Kiev as the Trump administration wants to pressurize Ukraine leaders.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, which oversee an attempt to integrate Starlink in the country, refused to comment on the service. A representative for Musk’s spacex did not immediately respond to the request of the comment.

The YouTelsat is also about 10 times smaller than its opponent, and more than 600 Leo satellites of the French company also sit at a height of 7,000 of Starlinks.

CCS Insight Analyst who said Gardiner said, “The constellation will have a low capacity, limiting Ukraine’s action,” CCS Insight Analyst Joe Gardiner said, who warned that dislikes will not be as simple as to swap the terminals. He said that other issues are united of the onewab terminals of YouTelst to a lack of differences with low -quality devices and starlinks than Starlinks.

The army uses starlinks to operate drones, operate air reconnaissance, guide artillery and maintain a relationship between units. This service is also used in front of hospitals and schools, where communication infrastructure has been largely disabled.

Soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine seized the land, is working without Starlink access and the army is learning from that experience, said Mustafa Nayam, the former sub -infrastructure minister of Ukraine. “Of course it would be a big loss to us,” he said about a possible cutoff.

Losing Starlink “would be very painful, but not frightening,” said military and radio technology blogger Serhiy Beskrestnov. He said that many alternative communication channels are available, but they are more expensive and slow.

According to Ivan, an artillery soldier posted near the front by Pokarovsk, communication without a starlink is very cumbersome, which can only be identified by its first name due to military policy. Without this, soldiers have to use a jerry-rolk-walk-talkie with advanced antennas to avoid monitoring by Russians, they said.

“It’s going to be bad without a starlink,” said Ivan.

Even before the Trump-Jalensky blowup, Ukraine was searching for options. There is a growing consensus in Europe that the continent needs to awaken itself with decades-free dependence on the US for safety. The European Union and its member states are running to develop euro trillions in the additional defense fund to develop sovereign capabilities and to compensate Trump’s dramatic pullbacks with US commitments.

The European Commission is discussing with the member states and the industry, and “we understand that dependence is not the best way for us to protect us,” said the Commission spokesman Thomas Render.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Thursday told reporters in Berlin, striving to compensate for a frozen American military support between Germany and Britain European allies, which may include satellite communication to change the services provided by Starlink.

Pistorius said at a joint news conference with its Ukrainian counterpart in Berlin, “We can provide and support everything from artillery ammunition to starlink command and control communication.”

Bloomberg reported that in view of the changing geo -political scenario to the Italian government, doubt about closing a deal with Starlink to provide safe satellite communication services and is also talking to YouTelsat.

The Ukrainian army has rely on the Starlink System of SpaceX for the early months of the war. The terminals were initially donated by Musk, although they are now funded by Europe on a large scale. Last month, Musk denied reports that the US had threatened to shut down the Starlink.

Musk prevented Starlink access to Ukraine in 2022 to prevent Ukraine from using it from using it, fearing that it could trigger an increase in conflict. That year, he threatened to cut starlink funding even after Ukrainian authorities criticized them for suggesting them to suggest the government’s seeded area in exchange for a peace agreement with Russia.

With the help of Darina Krasnolutska, Olesia Safronova, Michael Nayanaber, Andrea Palskiano and Gian Voliseli.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without amending the text.