The Starlink satellite Internet terminals of billionaire Elon Musk's American company SpaceX stopped functioning on the day of the start of the offensive of the russian army in the north of the Kharkiv Region.
This was reported by the American publication The Washington Post with reference to the Ukrainian military.
The publication cites the words of a serviceman of the 125th AFU Territorial Defense Brigade, which, at the time of the start of the offensive was in positions on the border of the Kharkiv Region.
A soldier with the call sign 'Artist' told the newspaper that the brigade regularly used unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the russians' build-up of their forces near the border.
But on May 10, the Starlink equipment suddenly stopped working, which, according to 'Artist,' made the Ukrainian military "absolutely blind."
"This was the biggest problem - we did not see how they were moving; we worked only on the radio or through the phones, where they were still working," the publication quotes the words of a serviceman.
It is unclear what exactly caused the failure of the satellite Internet system, but on May 11, SpaceX owner Elon Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that one of the strongest magnetic storms that occurred on 10-11 put pressure on Starlink satellites.
"Major geomagnetic solar storm happening right now. Biggest in a long time. Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure but holding up so far. pic.twitter.com/TrEv5Acli2,” Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2024
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the Meteoagent service previously published information according to which one of the strongest magnetic storms occurred from May 10 to 13.
The day before, the U.S. Department of Defense found a way to prevent russia from using Starlink terminals on the front line in Ukraine.
Earlier, it became known that the russian military in Ukraine began to use Starlink equipment en masse. It is impossible to legally buy it in russia.
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