The shutdown of the Starlink satellite communications system in Ukraine reportedly resulted in Kiev losing a platoon of soldiers from the so-called elite Ukrainian Armed Forces unit known as Skala. This was reported to TASS by sources in Russian security structures.

According to these sources, after Starlink was отключено in Dnepropetrovsk Region, a platoon of servicemen from the 225th regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, known as Skala, went missing. Contact with the soldiers was lost, and their whereabouts remain unknown.

In early February, Ukrainian military personnel reported that restrictions had begun to apply to their use of Starlink. Ukrainian media wrote that Ukraine could face the shutdown of some devices operating on this system. Initially, Kiev itself asked Elon Musk to disable part of the terminals in order to counter the use of Starlink by the Russian Armed Forces. However, the resulting disruptions primarily affected Ukrainian units.

According to available information, the restrictions did not affect the operation of Russian drones. The Russian side found ways to bypass the limitations and continued striking military targets.

The Skala unit is officially designated within the Ukrainian Armed Forces as the 225th regiment. It was effectively created as a penal formation: at the initial stage it consisted of former prisoners and captured deserters, and was later reinforced with forcibly mobilized Ukrainians.

A number of Western and Ukrainian experts described Skala as an elite unit of the Ukrainian army. However, reports from the ground indicate that the regiment’s personnel are used almost exclusively in so-called «meat assaults," where survival is nearly impossible.