Starlink And Kyivstar Launch Direct-To-Cell Service In Ukraine

Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar has become the first in Europe to launch Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellite technology, enabling millions to stay connected amid wartime blackouts and damaged infrastructure, according to Reuters.

The service, initially offering SMS capabilities with voice and data to follow in 2026, represents a collaboration between Elon Musk’s Starlink and telecoms group Veon, which owns Kyivstar. The technology allows regular 4G smartphones to connect directly to satellite networks without requiring additional hardware – a critical capability as Russia systematically targets Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“In Ukraine, staying connected means staying safe,” Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said in a statement. The service will enhance network resilience for the operator’s 22.5 million mobile customers. Komarov said the direct-to-device technology will provide an essential lifeline for subscribers in recently de-occupied territories, during prolonged blackouts and for rescue and humanitarian missions.

The service’s launch sparked immediate demand. Within 24 hours, 300,000 Kyivstar customers signed up and users sent 100,000 SMS messages via satellite, according to Ilya Polshakov, head of Veon Group’s cloud and satellite business in an interview with Mobile World Live.

Evolution, Not Revolution

Oleksii Plastun, a professor at Sumy State University who lives 30 to 40 kilometers from the Russian border, told me the new service represents “the next step in adapting to this new reality. Not a revolution, but an evolution.”

Plastun described the desperate early days of Russia’s blackout campaign. “4G was very unstable during the first wave of blackouts in fall 2022,” he said. “During blackouts, everyone switched from their home internet to mobile data, which dramatically increased the network load, and the system simply couldn’t handle all requests. In addition, at that time a lot of mobile operators’ equipment did not have autonomous power sources.”

The situation became critical for many Ukrainians trying to work and stay informed. “I remember having an important meeting with a large audience and sitting in the dark on my windowsill, trying to catch at least some 4G,” Plastun recalled. “Unsuccessfully.”

Mobile operators have since invested heavily in backup power systems. Komarov said Kyivstar has added batteries and generators to provide more than 10 hours of continuous coverage when grid power is unavailable. “Today the situation is much better,” Plastun confirmed. “During blackouts 4G now works much more reliably.”

The Critical Role of Connectivity

The stakes for reliable internet access extend beyond convenience. Alina Holovko, a humanitarian aid worker in Dnipro, told me in an interview that Ukrainians now rely entirely on the internet to stay safe. “All information about military activity, air-raid alerts, schedule changes, communication, and other warnings is found online,” she said.

Air-raid notifications transmitted via internet allow people to react and take shelter – a matter of life and death during missile strikes. When the power goes out, so does this critical warning system.

Current conditions remain severe. According to Holovko, power cuts last 7–8 hours with only 3–4 hours of electricity in between. “When the power is off, the pumps that supply water and heating don’t work,” she said. While high-rise buildings retain heat temporarily, she noted the impact will become much more noticeable as winter approaches.

A Complicated Partnership

The Kyivstar-Starlink collaboration marks a deepening, if sometimes complicated, relationship between Ukraine and Elon Musk’s satellite company. Ukraine’s armed forces rely heavily on Starlink for battlefield communications and drone operations.

That dependence has created vulnerabilities. Musk has restricted Starlink’s availability in certain areas, reportedly blocking Ukrainian forces from using the service in Russian-occupied Crimea and during Kyiv’s 2022 counteroffensive around Kherson.

He has swung between backing Ukraine’s defense and expressing unease about the war’s direction. In 2022, Musk claimed that SpaceX could no longer fund Starlink support for Ukraine before Musk reversed course. In March, he escalated criticism against Ukraine’s leadership on X, posting, “Zelensky wants a forever war, a never-ending graft meat grinder. This is evil.”

Treston Wheat, chief geopolitical officer at the consultancy Insight Forward, told me that “Musk has aligned himself with the political right” and is now inserting himself into the broader ideological battles shaping Washington’s debate over Ukraine.

Critical Damage

The need for resilient communications has grown as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine’s power sector. During nearly four years of war, Russia has struck the Ukrainian power sector and other infrastructure with hundreds of drones and missiles, damaging electricity distribution and generation capacity.

“The damage is close to critical, with the situation trending toward worse,” said Plastun.

According to reporting by the Kyiv Independent, months of intensified Russian strikes have destroyed nearly 70% of Ukraine’s generation capacity, leaving energy companies scrambling to find compatible transformers, turbines and 750-kilovolt grid equipment before winter.

Much of Europe no longer keeps stock that fits Ukraine’s Soviet-era system, and some high-voltage components take up to a year to manufacture. As a result, scheduled blackouts now stretch as long as 12 hours a day in some regions, and officials warn that reserves of usable replacement equipment could run out within a year.

Beyond physical strikes, Russia also carried out a major cyberattack in December 2023 that took down some of Kyivstar’s mobile network. The breach disabled mobile service and internet access for millions.

Direct-to-cell links won’t stop Russian strikes, but they give Ukraine a fallback when the grid goes down. As pressure on the power system grows, satellite connectivity becomes a parallel network that is harder to disable, keeping civilians online when other links fail.