Ukraine loses access to satellite intelligence, but not completely
Pravda Ukraine
Despite the United States’ suspension of the provision of intelligence satellite data, the Ukrainian Defence Forces will continue to receive it through alternative means.
Source: Three unconnected sources in Ukraine’s Defence Forces who are involved in the practical use of US intelligence in a comment to Ekonomichna Pravda
Details: One of them said that certain units of Ukraine’s Armed Forces had access to a special geospatial intelligence service through which the Ukrainian command, with US mediation, ordered satellite imagery from several US and European private companies. This service allowed for quick, free, and sufficient imagery to be obtained and shared between units.
On the evening of 6 February, one of the users was unable to log in to the service because “the account was suspended at the request of the administration”. The transmission of satellite intelligence from the US side via other channels is also likely to have been suspended. “We received a file from our partners, but it was empty,” said one of EP’s senior military sources.
At the same time, there are still alternative ways to obtain satellite data from US and European private companies on a commercial basis. “The images are expensive, but they can be bought. A black-and-white image of 25×25 kilometres in a not-so-great resolution of 50 centimetres per pixel costs $350. Many thousands of such images are needed by completely different branches of the armed forces,” said one of the sources.
The information about the availability of alternative ways to obtain satellite images is confirmed by a representative of one of the units planning operations in the deep rear of the Russian Federation. “Access to data has become more difficult, but we are still planning operations and looking for more alternatives,” he said.
EP’s sources say that even before Donald Trump won the election, the Americans limited the provision of intelligence to Ukraine related to long-range drone strikes. Therefore, the military has long had incentives to look for alternative ways to obtain the necessary images from Russian territory and build bilateral relations with space companies.
One of the most striking examples of this is the cooperation between the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Finnish company ICEYE. Ukrainian intelligence agencies can order SAR imagery from anywhere in the world using two purchased satellites and a constellation of 42 other ICEYE satellites.
In other words, the United States has severely limited access to a convenient system for obtaining and sharing intelligence, but there is still an opportunity to rebuild this system, relying on commercial ties and European allies.
“The consequences of this story are tangible, but we will understand the scale later,” one of the sources concluded.
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