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by Tim Zadorozhnyy
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk, suffered a global outage on Sept. 15, the company announced on its official website.
The service has become vital for hospitals, schools, and front-line military units across Ukraine.
"Starlink is once again down across the entire front line," Ukraine's top drone warfare commander, Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, wrote on Telegram.
Downdetector, a platform that tracks service outages, reported tens of thousands of user complaints worldwide. The company said it was investigating the cause.
Nearly an hour later, Brovdi reported that connectivity was beginning to "gradually restore," though Starlink has not officially confirmed a full recovery
The outage is the second in recent months.
The stakes are high for Ukraine, as Starlink has replaced much of the country's destroyed communications infrastructure and supports both civilian and military connectivity.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Kyiv has received over 50,000 Starlink terminals, with Poland providing nearly 30,000, the largest contribution by any single country.
Ukraine's reliance on Starlink has previously been complicated by tensions with Musk.
Reuters reported in July 2023 that the billionaire ordered a temporary deactivation of satellite coverage over Kherson Oblast during a Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2022, sparking concerns about the vulnerability of critical systems to private decision-making.
UkraineStarlinkElon MuskWarTelecommunicationsTech
Tim Zadorozhnyy
News Editor
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
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