Starlink is a 'major card' for Ukraine, soldiers say, but surprise restrictions show the risks of overreliance

The sudden disruption of Ukraine's military-grade Starlink access has exposed a key vulnerability. Dmytro Smolienko via Reuters Connect Ukraine's access to military-grade Starlink services was suddenly disrupted this week. Kyiv said the disruption affected critical Ukrainian drone operations. Ukrainians say the incident exposes the risks of relying so heavily on a single communications platform. The sudden disruption to Ukraine's access to military-grade Starlink services this week shows the risks of overly relying on any single platform, particularly one beyond Kyiv's control, for mission-critical battlefield communications, Ukrainian soldiers, officials, and defense companies told Business Insider. With those risks front of mind, Ukrainians are working to diversify military-related communications platforms beyond Starlink. Ukrainian officials and soldiers were surprised on Wednesday by an unexpected disruption to Starshield , SpaceX's dedicated satellite network for military services.