When Elon Musk switched on Starlink over Ukraine in 2022, it was presented as a technological edge nobody could copy. Three and a half years later, a former adviser in the Ukrainian presidential office says in a video address that Russia is building its own version - and that it is already operating over parts of Ukraine.

According to that address, Russia launched a constellation of 16 satellites, then a second one. Several dozen in total. Twelve of the first 16, launched in March, reached an operational altitude of 550 kilometres. Their orbits take them past Ukraine four times a day.

The figures are specific, and that is exactly why they are worth more than any statement. This is not a project announcement. According to the same source, the system already holds a stable satellite internet link over certain areas - an hour and a half to two hours. The estimate goes further: if launches continue at this pace, by the end of 2027 that could be eight to twelve hours.

Who is saying this, and why it matters

The source is not Russian. This is a man on the Ukrainian side describing the enemy's advantage as, in his words, a factor that will seriously complicate life for the Ukrainian armed forces. An admission from that address carries a different weight than a Kremlin press release - but it is still one address by one person, with no independent confirmation of what the system can actually do.

So it is reasonable to keep the caveat in place: what is confirmed are the launches and the altitudes. What remains an estimate is how long the link will really hold up in 2027.

Still, the pattern is familiar. Technological dependence looks like an advantage right up until the other side starts building its own capacity. Since 2022, Ukraine has fought a war in which battlefield connectivity was tied to a private American company and to the decisions of a single man. If Russia closes that gap, the advantage doesn't vanish overnight - it quietly levels out.

For a reader in the Balkans there is something here more recognisable than the war itself. Infrastructure you use but don't own is infrastructure somebody else can switch off. The question isn't whether satellite internet will reach us too - it already has. The question is whose it will be, and who decides when it works.