Ukraine Moves to Block Russia’s ‘Rassvet’ Battlefield Internet Network Over Its Skies
Kyiv has asked the U.N.-linked telecom regulator to strip Russian Rassvet satellites of registered service rights over Ukrainian territory, as Moscow races to build its own Starlink-style military internet. The move cannot stop the satellites flying overhead, but it opens a new front over who controls the signals guiding Russian drones and troops.
As Russian forces push to wire their war effort into space, Ukraine is trying to fight back in the bureaucracy of global telecom governance. Kyiv has formally asked the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to remove Ukrainian territory from the declared service areas of Russia’s emerging Rassvet satellite internet network, a system designed to give Moscow its own version of Starlink-style connectivity.
Ukrainian officials view Rassvet as more than a commercial communications project. With Russia rapidly expanding the constellation, they see it as a critical tool to provide secure, resilient links for drones, ground units and command centers across the battlefield. Satellite internet helps operators control unmanned aircraft beyond line of sight, relay targeting data and maintain contact even when terrestrial networks are jammed or destroyed.
By petitioning the ITU, Kyiv is seeking to strip Russia of the formal right to provide registered satellite service over Ukrainian territory. The request challenges whether Moscow can legitimately claim Ukraine within Rassvet’s footprint under international telecom rules and raises the issue of consent: a country under invasion objecting to the use of space-based services by the aggressor above its land.
Practically, however, the ITU cannot prevent Rassvet satellites from flying over Ukraine or physically block their signals from reaching Russian terminals in occupied areas or even just across the border. The organization coordinates spectrum and orbital slots to reduce interference and manage shared resources; it does not operate jammers or enforcement satellites. Even if Ukraine’s request is granted, Russia could continue using Rassvet to support operations, though potentially with less legal cover and more risk of disputes over interference.
For Ukrainian forces and civilians on the ground, the stakes are tangible. A robust Russian satellite internet network over the theater would make it harder to disrupt enemy communications through electronic warfare alone. It could allow Russian drones to adapt routes in real time, help artillery units receive updated coordinates, and keep forward positions linked to higher command despite distance or terrain. In effect, Rassvet aims to pull Russian units into a single digital battlespace—a force multiplier in a war where information and connectivity are often as decisive as armor.
Strategically, Kyiv’s move highlights how space and telecom regulation have become contested terrain in modern conflict. Registration, licensing and coordination processes once treated as technocratic are now tools states use to legitimize or delegitimize each other’s military infrastructure. For Western backers of Ukraine, the case raises questions about how far they are willing to go in challenging Russian satellite networks in international fora, and whether they might push for broader constraints on the use of certain constellations over conflict zones.
At the same time, the Rassvet story underscores why Russia is racing to build its own sovereign alternative to foreign systems. Reliance on commercial providers based in rival or neutral states carries political risk; Rassvet is designed to reduce that vulnerability by giving Moscow more direct control over a key layer of the warfighting network. For Ukraine, which has benefitted from access to commercial constellations, the prospect of Russia matching those advantages changes the calculus on both offense and defense.
The shareable lesson is clear: in this war, orbits and frequency filings matter almost as much as trenches and tanks. Control of the spectrum that knits drones, sensors and guns together can quietly tilt the balance before a shot is fired.
What to watch now is whether the ITU publicly acknowledges Ukraine’s request and how it handles it procedurally, whether other states signal support or opposition, and whether Russia accelerates deployment of Rassvet terminals and services near the front despite the diplomatic challenge. Any parallel moves by Kyiv to jam, hack or physically target Rassvet ground infrastructure would show that the fight over this network is moving from paperwork to the field.
Sources
- OSINT