201 square kilometers retaken in 5 days
Exploiting the weakness of Russia’s "communications-paralyzed" forces
The Ukrainian military has taken advantage of the cutoff of Russian forces' access to Starlink satellite internet to recapture territory at the fastest pace in two and a half years, laying the groundwork for a reversal of the war’s momentum.
On the 16th (local time), Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a self-propelled howitzer on the Zaporizhzhia front in Ukraine. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News
On the 16th (local time), AFP, analyzing data from the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), reported that Ukrainian forces succeeded in retaking 201 square kilometers of territory from Russia in just five days, from the 11th to the 15th.
This area is comparable to the total territory occupied by Russian forces over the entire month of December last year and marks the largest territorial expansion achieved in the shortest time since the major counteroffensive of June 2023.
Military experts have pointed to the Russian forces’ Starlink outage as the decisive factor behind this latest territorial gain. Until now, Russian troops had allegedly smuggled Starlink equipment via the black market and deployed it to the front lines to support command-and-control and drone operations. In particular, Starlink’s stable communications network is said to have played a key role in bypassing electronic warfare jamming systems and carrying out precision strikes on targets.
However, at the request of the Ukrainian side, SpaceX abruptly blocked Russia’s unauthorized access to the system earlier this month, dramatically changing the situation.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated on his social media (SNS) that “the new system blocking Russian military access is proving highly effective,” expressing his gratitude to Elon Musk and SpaceX. In reality, with their communications and command structures paralyzed, Russian forces have effectively halted their offensive, apart from a minor advance recorded on the 9th.
The territory Ukraine has recaptured this time is concentrated in an area about 80 kilometers east of the southern front-line city of Zaporizhzhia. The gain is all the more significant because this is a strategic stronghold where Russian forces had steadily advanced and expanded their influence since last summer.
Nonetheless, despite this success, Russia still controls 19.5% of Ukraine’s total territory, meaning that the overall area under occupation has in fact increased slightly.
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