The satellite internet that kept the Ukrainian front connected has turned out to be not so untouchable. According to Russian sources, Moscow has developed an electronic-warfare system designed to cut off the communications of Starlink - Elon Musk's network of satellites.

The system, it is claimed, creates radio interference in zones of about 20 kilometers around the spot where it is deployed. Several directional antennas on mobile platforms can simultaneously attack a single satellite or a whole cluster, severing the link with ground terminals. The goal isn't to destroy all of Starlink - that would be science fiction - but to create local zones where drones, terminals and communications fail at exactly the crucial moment.

The military analyst commenting on the system claims the effect is visible on the ground: along certain axes where Ukrainian drones regularly hit Russian fuel tankers, the vehicles are now more often reaching their target. Even Ukrainian electronic-warfare specialists admit Russia has significantly improved its anti-satellite systems over the past two years.

And here lies something that outlasts this front. The whole story of modern war turned on the idea that private technology - one billionaire's satellites - could tip the balance. Now it turns out every technological edge has its expiry date and its antidote. For a small region like ours, increasingly dependent on someone else's networks, servers and satellites, the question is uncomfortable: what happens when the infrastructure you rely on is in someone else's hands, and someone else holds the switch?