Digital isolation for the Russian Federation: the transformation of unauthorized Starlink terminals into unmanageable scrap has severed the Russian communications, resulting in a halt to assaults and a total loss of drone control.
For the Russian army, which lacks its own domestic equivalents, Starlink was the sole tool for modern command and control due to its mobility and resistance to electronic warfare (EW). However, according to Mykhailo Fedorov, SpaceX, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, has implemented a Whitelist mechanism. Now, only terminals officially verified by Ukraine are operational within the combat zone, depriving the Russian troops of the ability to livestream in real time and to control Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Nevertheless, despite the successful collaboration between the MoD and SpaceX, experts urge caution. Ukrainian units utilizing "volunteer" Starlink terminals could also be affected. If terminals purchased in Europe or the US were not officially transferred to the balance sheets of military units or added to the whitelist, they may also face blockage due to bureaucratic delays.
This raises the question: what will Russia use to replace the lost communications? The Russian forces' choices are limited and largely ineffective:
- Russian "Yamal" and "Express" satellites;
- Utilization of LTE networks;
- Attempts to expand local Wi-Fi bridges;
- Deployment of the new "Barrage-1" stratospheric 5G platform.
While the Russian forces attempts to replace blocked Starlink connections with Wi-Fi bridges, the Ukrainian military already possesses an effective countermeasure: SCAN-OX signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems, which have long proven themselves across all sectors of the front as indispensable assets for aerial reconnaissance.
All Russian devices – from communication hubs and UAVs to personal gadgets (smartwatches, headphones, routers, mobile phones, laptops) – continuously emit signals via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The SCAN-OX line of systems is specifically designed to instantaneously determine the coordinates of such emission sources. A key feature of SCAN-OX is its ability to detect these sources and collect information about them along a drone's flight path. This provides UAV operators with enhanced data on Russian deployment locations and accelerates the command's subsequent decision-making.
SCAN-OX devices turn the Russia's digital footprint into their primary vulnerability, transforming the Russian standard communication devices into beacons for Ukrainian forces, thus hastening Russia's defeat in the war.
