Russia’s drone campaign has been dealt a massive blow after Elon Musk blocked access to his Starlink satellite network.

Andrii Biletski, commander of Ukraine Third Corps, tells me the impact of SpaceX switching off Starlink in areas of Ukraine now held by Russia’s invading forces has been “enormous”.

The small laptop sized Starlink units are the backbone of communications on both sides. They are also fitted on larger drones, Russian Shahed missiles, and used for all battle communications on the ground.

Biletski says that if Ukraine also lost its Starlink connection then “we will be on the same level as the Russians again, as it was three weeks ago”.

It shows in real terms how vulnerable modern armies are and in a fast evolving war over technology, daily mutations of cheap relatively low-tech drones can overwhelm the most expensive and conventional armed forces.

Sam Kiley reports from Ukraine’s fortress belt in Pavlohrad and Izium in eastern Ukraine (Independent)

Weekly briefing

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‘Didn’t mention Epstein once’: Americans react to Trump’s 'nearly two hours of lies’ State of the Union

President Donald Trump’s record-breaking address on Tuesday evening elicited sharply divided reactions from lawmakers in the House and from the broader public, writes Brendan Rascius.

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Au revoir Gmail and Zoom: how Macron pulled the plug on American big tech in France

As Paris bets that homegrown tech can replace Silicon Valley defaults across government, Chris Stokel-Walker asks whether other countries, including Britain, will follow suit.

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Aer Lingus to demand passports from passengers between Ireland and Great Britain

From 25 February 2026, the Irish carrier will join Ryanair in demanding that passengers between Great Britain and Ireland carry passports, reveals Simon Calder.

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COMMENT | KHALID SAYED

After the Winter Olympics, will ICE cast a shadow over the 2026 World Cup?

The Fifa World Cup is still months away, but the Winter Olympics offered a preview of how global sport can become entangled with US immigration policy.

In Milan, the proposed involvement of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), framed as routine “security”, triggered protests. But what unfolded revealed something more troubling: the normalisation of domestic immigration crackdowns inside global sporting arenas.

The next test will be the World Cup, which is being held in the US, Mexico and Canada – a tournament that depends not just on teams crossing borders, but on millions of supporters, often from the Global South, doing the same.

President Donald Trump has already used Fifa’s ceremonial stage to advance his own political image – most notably when he was awarded a “peace prize” at the World Cup draw in Washington in December. Now concerns are spreading among federations, sponsors and political leaders about how immigration enforcement might shape the tournament’s atmosphere. 

From our correspondents

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I have studied Mexico’s cartels for decades. Here’s what will happen next

The death of a major cartel boss in Mexico has unleashed a violent backlash in which members of the criminal group have paralyzed some cities through blockades and attacks on property and security forces.

At least 73 people have died as a result of the operation to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho". The head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was seriously wounded during a firefight with authorities this week. He later died in custody.

As an expert studying Mexico’s cartels for two decades, I see the violent aftermath of the operation as part of a pattern in which Mexican governments opt for high-profile hits that often lead only to more violence, without addressing the broader security problems that plague huge swaths of the country.

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Putin wanted to rebuild Russia’s empire. He’s ended up as China’s lapdog instead

It’s been four years of war. Four years of a Russian onslaught to extinguish Ukrainian independence, which Vladimir Putin thought would be over in days.

For just over a year of this, I worked as a special adviser to a foreign secretary, with Ukraine as my main brief. And I don’t think it’s quite understood just how far the war has changed the course not just of Ukrainian history, but of Russian history.

One of the last things I did in government was to join a visit to the White House, where top British officials sought to get across just how much the Ukrainian army had changed for the better in 18 months.

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WATCH

Nasa astronaut shares striking footage of rare ISS ‘cartwheel’ around Earth

The Independent has launched a project to investigate the impact of foreign aid cuts on the developing world. The project receives funding from the Gates Foundation. All of the journalism is editorially independent.

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How debt relief could help reverse the brutal consequences of UK aid cuts

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