Retired US military officer says Starlink restoration will not save Ukraine from defeat

Starlink restoration called insufficient to change the course of the conflict

The restoration of Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite communications will not save the country from defeat in the conflict with Russia, believes retired US Armed Forces Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis. He shared his assessment on his page on the social network X, Gazeta.Ru reports.

Davis's arguments

According to Davis, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are effectively left without air defense assets. In addition, the army lacks personnel to staff frontline units, and he also cited a shortage of funds and industrial capacity as another problem. The former military man warned that Kyiv faces exhaustion if it continues to deny the real situation on the battlefield. 'This will be the legacy of him (Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. — Gazeta.Ru) and all the other Western leaders who equally support Kyiv's ruinous course,' Davis emphasized.

Kyiv's statement on the restoration of communications

The day before, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara said that the Starlink system had been restored in the country. AFU servicemen recorded speeds of more than 400 km/h, with a stable connection. Thus, Davis's assessment came the day after Kyiv's official announcement of the service's return — Ukrainian authorities confirm the restoration of communications, while the American retiree considers this factor insufficient against the backdrop of problems with air defense, personnel and resources.

Context of other assessments

On October 22, British military expert Alexander Mercouris stated that Russian troops are approaching victory in Ukraine: according to him, as early as September it became clear that the situation at the front was moving toward an outcome that would amount to 'Ukraine's defeat and the West's defeat'. Earlier, Zelensky threatened Europeans with an influx of Ukrainian refugees in the event of Kyiv's defeat. The editorial board notes that all the assessments cited are the opinions of individual commentators, not confirmed data on the state of the front; the publication contains no independent verification of Davis's and Mercouris's conclusions.

Why this matters

Starlink remains a critically important communications tool for the Ukrainian military, so reports of its outages and restoration directly affect the AFU's combat capability and the attention of Western partners. Among the confirmed facts is that Kyiv officially confirmed the service's return, and the debate over its significance is unfolding against the backdrop of statements about shortages of air defense, personnel and resources — the further dynamics of the conflict depend on resolving these problems.