Russian forces destroy Ukrainian Starlink station in Bakhmut, launch drone attack on Kiev

Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian Starlink satellite communication station near Bakhmut, according to a Russian defense ministry spokesperson, coming amid Russia’s overnight air raid on Kiev after a 12-day break.

“The artillery of the group [of Russian forces] destroyed a Starlink communication station, a control center for unmanned aerial vehicles together with a Leleka-100 drone, a communication center, and a pickup truck with an infantry group,” the spokesperson said on Sunday as quoted in a report by Sputnik News.

Starlink is a next-generation satellite network designed to provide broadband internet access across the world, launched by SpaceX in February 2018. After the start of Russia's “military operation” in Ukraine, Starlink stations have been providing the Ukrainian forces access to satellite internet.

Russian forces also repelled an attack by a Ukrainian assault group near the village of Berkhovka in Bakhmut (also known as Artemovsk) area, the report added.

It further cited a source in the command of Russia’s South group of soldiers as saying, “Airborne troops stopped the enemy in the gray zone … As a result of the battle, more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel, five tanks, eight infantry fighting vehicles, and more than 10 unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials stated on Sunday that Russia had launched a drone attack on Kiev, the first overnight attack in 12 days.

“Another enemy attack on Kiev,” Serhiy Popko, a colonel general who heads Kiev’s military administration, said in a post on his Telegram channel.

“At this moment, there is no information about possible casualties or damage,” he added.

Ukrainian military officials claimed that the city’s air defense system had shot down all the approaching targets.

Ukraine has not received arms promised by West for counteroffensive: Top commander

Ukraine

This comes as Ukraine launched a counteroffensive last month to reclaim territory under Russian control. But President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged last week that plans for the counteroffensive had slowed in recent months.

“We stopped because we could not advance,” said the Ukrainian president. “Advancing meant losing people and we had no artillery.”

Zelensky on Saturday expressed frustration over the slow deliveries of weapons and lack of clarity over pilot training by “some” Western nations. “There is no schedule of training missions. I believe that some partners are dragging their feet. Why are they doing it? I don’t know,” Zelensky said.

Russia has also described the counteroffensive against its forces as “unsuccessful.”

The US has said it is providing Ukraine with what it needs when it needs it. But leaked US military and intelligence documents previously indicated alarming Ukrainian shortfalls in Western-supplied weaponry — especially ammunition and air defense.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the US and its Western allies have been providing Kiev with military equipment worth tens of billions of dollars. The supplied arms include rocket systems, drones, tanks and armored vehicles, and communication systems as reports also indicate a probable supply of F-16 fighter jets.  

Long-range attack drones have been also added to the list of Western weapons supplied to the Ukrainian forces fighting against Russian troops.

Biden administration alone has sent more than $40 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia first launched its military operation.

Russia has repeatedly said that the collective Western nations are engaged in a proxy war with Russia over Ukraine, warning that the conflict could escalate into a much bigger fight.

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