Starlink Outage Hits Ukraine's Front Line Amid Global Disruption

Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, experienced a global outage on September 15, cutting off connectivity across Ukraine’s front line and disrupting critical communications for both civilian and military operations.

The service is vital in Ukraine, providing connectivity for hospitals, schools, and front-line military units. “Starlink is once again down across the entire front line,” Ukraine’s top drone warfare commander, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, reported on Telegram, The Caspian Post reports via Ukrainian media.

Downdetector, a platform that tracks service disruptions, recorded tens of thousands of complaints globally. Starlink said it was investigating the cause of the outage. Nearly an hour later, Brovdi noted that connectivity was “gradually restoring,” though the company has yet to confirm a full recovery.

This is the second significant outage in recent months. Starlink has become indispensable for Ukraine, replacing much of the nation’s damaged communications infrastructure and supporting both civilian and military operations.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has received over 50,000 Starlink terminals, with Poland contributing nearly 30,000-the largest single-country donation.

Ukraine’s reliance on the service has occasionally created tensions with Musk. The entrepreneur temporarily deactivated satellite coverage over Kherson Oblast during a Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2022, sparking concerns about the vulnerability of critical systems to decisions made by private entities.