Russian channels claim Ukraine is striking deep with a new kind of satellite terminal. Serhii Beskrestnov, the military communications expert and presidential adviser known as Flash, says he will neither confirm nor deny the report. At the same time, he notes that the technology is far from unique and, unlike Starlink, too slow for real-time work.

Ukraine is scrambling for satellite links beyond Elon Musk’s Starlink, which it does not control and whose slowdown crippled front-line operations last month. Meanwhile, Russia routinely trumpets Ukrainian capabilities as proof it has them figured out. Flash’s point runs counter to the reports: the terminal Russia describes is more limited than the network Ukraine already relies on.

“I neither confirm nor deny”

Beskrestnov, who closely tracks Russia’s electronic warfare and Starlink jamming, notes that every Russian channel has reported the same day that Ukraine was using new satellite terminals for deep strikes.

“I do not confirm or deny this information from Russians. I do not know why this caused such a stir in Russian media, since such technologies have long been nothing unique,” he says.

What the terminal is, and isn’t

Russian reports name the SmartLite Sirius terminals, made by the company HiSky, as the alternative to Starlink in Ukraine.

Per Flash, it can work with both low-orbit and geostationary satellites, and instead of a dish it uses a flat antenna, like Starlink’s, that forms beams to track a satellite as it moves, the same approach taken by the US firm Kymeta.

It is small, about 60 by 30 centimeters and 6 kilograms, and can hold a link on the move. But it is no match for Starlink, Flash underlines.

“Terminals of this type can indeed maintain a connection on the move, but this is not Starlink. The speed can reach a maximum of 2 Mbit/s, and signal latency when working through geostationary satellites will be too great for online operation,” he says.