A Ukrainian soldier standing on a hill and waving the Ukrainian flag. Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive has raised morale among Ukrainian troops. (Shutterstock/Oleh Slepchenko)

Ukraine Makes a Rare Advance on the Battlefield

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The Ukrainian army successfully recaptured around 200 square kilometers of territory from Russia—its most significant battlefield advance since 2023.

In a local counteroffensive, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated the most territory in the country’s southeastern region since 2023.  

In early February, the Ukrainian military liberated approximately 201 square kilometers of land in a sudden local counteroffensive. The Ukrainian forces had an unlikely ally in that feat: billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. 

Starlink and the Ukrainian Counteroffensive  

The action marks the most territory liberated by Ukrainian forces in such a short period since Kyiv’s large-scale summer counteroffensive of 2023. The more recent counterattack essentially canceled out Moscow’s territorial gains for the month of December.

It appears that the Ukrainian military took advantage of a Starlink connectivity issue in the Russian camp to advance. A few weeks ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX blocked unregistered Starlink terminals in Ukraine, over concerns that the Russian military was buying the systems for civilian use and then using them on the battlefield.

“Effective February 4, 2026, additional security measures have been implemented in Ukraine in coordination with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. As a result, certain Starlink terminals have been restricted,” SpaceX stated.  

Losing connectivity to the internet service negatively impacted Russian military communications and unmanned aerial system operations. For example, Russia’s Rubikon Center drone unit had relied on Starlink terminals to extend the ranges of their one-way attack unmanned kamikaze drones to achieve strikes deeper into Ukrainian lines. SpaceX’s decision limited the ability of Russian drones to achieve similar results. 

Communications are an essential element of warfare. Any disruption in an adversary’s communications is an advantage that can be used for offensive and defensive purposes. Military forces intentionally try to disrupt an adversary’s communications, thereby increasing the natural effect of the fog of war.  

Ukraine’s Mixed Record of Counteroffensives   

Liberating 201 square kilometers is not a major blow to the Kremlin in the overall balance of the conflict. For reference, Russia occupies around 120,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, rendering the gain insignificant from a strategic perspective.

However, the symbolic victory is hard to miss. In less than five days, the Ukrainians managed to capture the same amount of territory that the Russian forces needed a month to capture. And this is not the first time the Ukrainian military has achieved such a rate of advance.  

In the fall of 2022, during the first big Ukrainian counteroffensive of the war, the Ukrainian forces managed to liberate thousands of square kilometers in just a few days. Ukrainians know how to fight maneuver warfare. And the Russian military is weak in defense if it is caught unprepared. A few weeks after the northern counteroffensive, the Ukrainians replicated their feat in southern Ukraine, liberating hundreds of square miles and important urban centers, including Kherson.

In the summer of 2023, the Ukrainian military launched a large counteroffensive in the southern part of the country, attempting to replicate the successes the previous year. The goal was to pierce the Russian defensive line and achieve an operational breakthrough that would allow the Ukrainian forces to reach the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

However, despite an influx of Western weapon systems, including M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, and Challenger 2 main battle tanks, the Ukrainian forces failed to breach the Russian defenses, which were the most comprehensive defensive works seen on European soil since World War II.  

The record shows that the Ukrainian military can achieve success on the ground through a combination of surprise and combined arms warfare. But when faced with in-depth defensive fortifications, its effectiveness is not the same.  

About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou  

Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.

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