What's going on with Starlink in Ukraine?

In October 2026, Ukraine's use of Starlink in its defense became front-page news as Ukrainians experienced several days of unexpected limits on their access to SpaceX's satellite internet service. Observers and Ukrainians alike have remaining questions about why the slowdown occurred, why Ukraine relies on Starlink, and if there are alternatives Ukraine could turn to if these disruptions become regular. This week, Bakhti is joined by expert Oleg Kutkov to probe these questions, discuss how Oleg became Ukraine's leading Starlink expert, and reflect on how his life journey beginning as a child in Crimea has affected his career as an engineer and mission to understand and repair Starlink terminals during the war.

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Oleg Kutkov is a Ukrainian embedded systems engineer from Crimea who is currently based in Kyiv. He is well-known for his work with Starlink systems and focuses on software and hardware hacking. Kutkov is an senior embedded engineer at Ubiquiti Labs Ukraine and has a master's degree in computer science from Kharkiv National Aerospace University.

This podcast is hosted by Bakhti Nishanov and produced by Alanna Novetsky and Anna Nestler in conjunction with the Senate Recording Studio.