🔴 NEW: German defense ministry officials want Berlin to build its next fighter jet with Sweden and Spain — rather than accept the UK’s offer to join its program, docs show.
It sets up a major choice for Chancellor Merz after Germany’s FCAS project with France collapsed. 🧵
U.S. STARLINK RESTRICTIONS REPORTEDLY BACKFIRE, DISRUPTING RUSSIAN FORCES 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺🇧🇬
Washington reportedly tried to pressure Ukraine by restricting Starlink connectivity. But according to Russian military accounts, the disruption may have affected an unexpected beneficiary of Ukrainian communications infrastructure: Russia's own troops.
An October 16 report by Prof. Bonk alleges that Russian units operating in Donetsk had been relying on access to Ukrainian-authorized Starlink terminals. When network speeds were restricted, their battlefield communications and drone operations reportedly suffered too.
Russian aviation commentator Fighterbomber was cited as acknowledging the problem, suggesting that Moscow's forces had become dependent on communications infrastructure intended for their Ukrainian opponents.
The controversy extended beyond the battlefield. In Kyiv, Ukraine's SBU reportedly caught an 18-year-old who had registered 148 Starlink terminals for Russia's FSB. In Bulgaria, masked individuals allegedly set fire to 11 satellite antennas associated with communications supporting Ukraine. The identities and motives of those responsible for the Bulgarian incident remain unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, Russia's attempts to protect its own digital infrastructure were reportedly producing equally troubling results.
At Balakovo, approximately 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Sberbank allegedly spent 59 million rubles on drone detection equipment, defensive drones and searchlights to protect a major supercomputer data center.
Nine days later, according to the account, a drone struck the facility despite those preparations. Sberbank's deputy chairman insisted that all systems were operating normally, even as disruptions were reported affecting the bank's application, Tochka Bank, VKontakte, https://t.co/0GGVXq030J, Ozon and local internet connectivity. The precise relationship between the strike and those outages has not been independently established.
But the most disturbing allegations came from Russia's own frontline personnel and their families.
Relatives of soldiers serving in the 128th Brigade reportedly described systematic abuse, including demands for bribes of 300,000 rubles to arrange medical evacuation for severely wounded personnel.
Those refusing to pay were allegedly subjected to brutal punishment, including being tied to trees and beaten by a commander known as Kuznets.
The account also claimed that only 20 soldiers from the 1st Battalion survived fighting around Olkhovatka. Other troops were reportedly stranded without adequate food or water, while commanders ordered men to recover metal from destroyed armored vehicles. These allegations and casualty figures remain unverified.
The situation became even stranger during a reported pause in Ukrainian attacks against Russian refineries.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak publicly accused Ukraine of violating the arrangement by striking facilities in Saratov and Ryazan. Prof. Bonk's account disputes that allegation, claiming no Ukrainian drones were launched during the incidents.
It further alleges that workers at the Ryazan refinery, alarmed by reports of an incoming attack, activated an emergency flare that damaged their own equipment. That explanation has not been independently corroborated.
Then Zelenskyy reportedly announced that Ukraine would no longer maintain the restrictions.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he declared:
“That's it. Block is out.”
The account claims approximately 1,000 Ukrainian drones subsequently entered Russian airspace, although that figure and its timing require independent confirmation.
Taken together, these reports paint a picture of competing pressures on Russia's military and domestic infrastructure: communications vulnerabilities, allegations of corruption within frontline units, and expensive defenses that may not be providing the protection their operators expect.
The central irony of the Starlink story is particularly striking. If Russian troops were indeed using Ukrainian-authorized terminals, restrictions intended to pressure Kyiv may also have disrupted Moscow's battlefield operations.
A communications measure designed to constrain one side may have exposed the unexpected dependence of the other.