Overnight on October 13-14, Russia launched 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones at Kyiv and Kharkiv in one of its heaviest bombardments for some time. We already knew that Russia’s new-generation jet-powered drones pose a significant threat to Ukraine’s air defences. They are simply too fast to intercept consistently – so many more can get through than was the case with its less sophisticated drones.
But another factor made it even harder for Ukraine to defend itself. A speed limit had been imposed on the SpaceX Starlink satellite system it has depended on since early in the war. This effectively meant that the interceptors it uses to try to shoot down the jet-powered drones became ineffective.
