Ukraine showcased its military strength Monday (local time), its 35th Independence Day, with a parade featuring large-scale drone and robot forces.[Yonhap]
Ukraine showcased its military strength Monday (local time), its 35th Independence Day, with a parade featuring large-scale drone and robot forces.[Yonhap]

Russia has begun mass production of a new electronic warfare system called "Wave Dome Guarantor" (Volna Kupol Garant) capable of neutralizing Ukraine's Starlink satellite communications, TASS reported Friday (local time).

A source in Russia's defense industry said the system had already begun reaching multiple front lines, including the Central Military District, and that mass production would allow it to block Starlink access anywhere on the battlefield.

The system gained wide attention in June after Serhiy Berkrestnov, a drone expert serving as a technical adviser to Ukraine's Ministry of National Defense, described it in detail and disclosed its existence publicly.

In a Facebook post at the time, Berkrestnov said Russian forces had been conducting experiments to neutralize Ukraine's Starlink communications since the early days of the war, with documented cases of Starlink jamming near Kharkiv in 2024.

After a period with no large-scale neutralization attempts, electronic warfare activity targeting Starlink was detected again from May this year, following Ukraine's intensified strikes on Russian logistics centers, he said.

"This is called the Wave Dome Guarantor electronic warfare system and is manufactured by a company called Kupol in Simferopol," Berkrestnov said, explaining that the system emits powerful interference signals from the ground toward Starlink satellites, preventing them from receiving signals from Ukrainian terminals.

The system is transported on a trailer equipped with antennas, generators and other power supply units.

On the same day Berkrestnov's remarks were picked up by multiple outlets, Russia launched its own propaganda campaign around the electronic warfare system.

Russian drone expert Dmitry Kuziakin told TASS that the Wave Dome Guarantor activates when Starlink satellites are used in attacks against Russia, adding that the system's goal is not to disrupt communications between drones and satellites but to disable the satellites themselves.

Because airborne drones are difficult to detect, the system was designed to target Starlink satellites directly — which orbit only about 500 kilometers above the ground, he said.

Another expert, Sergei Trukhachev, also told TASS that the system works by jamming specific satellites passing over an electronic warfare zone. "It can successfully block specific frequencies used by the enemy, making it highly effective," he said.

Ukraine has been putting to effective use the long- and medium-range drone capabilities it has built up during the war, striking targets inside Russia. On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the Medal of Freedom to Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX, which operates Starlink, in recognition of the service's contribution to Ukraine's drone warfare.

Zelensky has also been pressing US President Donald Trump to allow Ukraine to use Starlink for strikes deep inside Russian territory.


husn7@heraldcorp.com