Russia uses 5G balloon terminals while Starlink systems remain down for 2 weeks, official says
Russia says a two-week Starlink outage has not disrupted its drone operations, while it tests the domestically built Barazh-1 balloon system as a potential short-term communications substitute.
Starlink terminals used by the Russian military have been offline for two weeks with no effect on its drone operations, a senior Russian military official said on Tuesday, Reuters says, while Russian media highlight testing of the Barazh‑1 stratospheric balloon 5G relay as a short-term Starlink alternative, Forbes adds.
"Starlink terminals have been down for two weeks, but this has not affected the intensity or effectiveness of the troops' unmanned systems, as confirmed by data from objective monitoring of damage to enemy equipment and personnel," Deputy Defence Minister Aleksei Krivoruchko told State Television, reports Reuters.
The Russian acknowledgement was made nearly two weeks after Ukrainian officials said the terminals used by the Russian military had been disconnected.
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According to Reuters, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the terminals had been disconnected and other Ukrainian officials said the effect on Russian operations had been considerable.
Ukraine's military relies on tens of thousands of satellite-based Starlink connections for battlefield communication and for piloting some drone missions.
It said this month it had found Starlink terminals, produced by the company SpaceX, on long-range drones used in Russian attacks.
Meanwhile, Forbes reports that just a week after losing access to Starlink, a video of the experimental launch of the Barazh-1 system surfaced on social media on 13 February.
The platform is claimed to be built almost entirely with Russian-made components and domestic technology, suggesting that Western sanctions or equipment shortages would not significantly disrupt its production.
While the balloon-based relay can currently remain airborne for several days, efforts are underway to extend its endurance to several weeks.
