Photos show Ukraine's Starlink was down during fatal strike
Photos show Ukraine's Starlink was throttled during a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv that killed five people, including a makeup artist and a 1-year-old girl.
The attack occurred on October 19 in Kharkiv when Yulia Spichak, a 34-year-old makeup artist, dropped her son off at an English-language lesson and sat down in a nearby park. Seconds later, a Russian drone slammed into the park, killing Spichak and four others, including a 1-year-old girl.
The strike came six days after Elon Musk's SpaceX throttled Ukraine's access to Starlink, which Ukraine has been using to coordinate its defenses against Russian attacks and for some offensive operations. Musk accused Ukraine of violating Starlink's terms of service by using it for attacks on Russia.
Defense systems affected
Ukrainian officials told CBS News that the restrictions imposed without advance notice affected ground-based air defense radars and drone interceptors, hindering the military's ability to stop incoming Russian strikes.
Connectivity dropped
CBS News obtained photographs showing Ukraine's ground-based air defense radars' Starlink connectivity dropping to .1 megabytes per second on October 19, the day of the Kharkiv drone attack. That would not be enough to load a webpage, let alone power air defense systems, according to a source familiar with the technology.
On Saturday, Ukrainian officials confirmed that Starlink's access had been restored across the country, with Musk admitting that SpaceX had throttled connectivity.
Victim's sister speaks
Alina Spichak, the sister of Yulia, revisited the park where she died with CBS News. She said the Geran-4 Russian jet-powered drone arrived so quickly the victims didn't hear it coming.
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