1/ Russian retailers are cashing in on Elon Musk's mass disabling of the Russian army's Starlink terminals by massively increasing the price of Russian alternatives. One such system has quadrupled in price overnight to over $2,600, but is said to be far inferior to Starlink. ⬇️
2/ 'Combat Reserve' complains that there has been a huge overnight increase in the price being asked for the Yamal 601 system, which uses Gazprom's Yamal satellite constellation. Units are now selling for 200,000 rubles ($2,612) apiece.
3/ Listings on Avito (Russia's answer to eBay) show that until yesterday, Yamal 601 units were being priced at between 45-60,000 rubles. They are however far less capable than Starlink, and Russian soldiers have avoided them in favour of the smaller and faster US-made system.
4/ 'Combat Reserve' is scathing about the Yamal 601: "This piece of shit works intermittently and traffic is limited. The speed is fucking awful. In short, it's a faggot in disguise."
This greatly limits its suitability for military purposes such as drone control.
Feb 5, 2026 14:435/ As the Russian Ministry of Defence does not provide satellite Internet to the troops, the cost of buying inferior replacements for Starlink will almost certainly fall on the soldiers themselves, who will need to pay inflated prices for a much worse alternative. /end
