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Usually the military doesn't target infrastructure they'll need themselves.

I've seen various Ukranian sources mention Starlink as a useful comms tool.

Sure, but I don't see how the Russians need the Ukranian fiber optic network or cell network. By all reports it's being used against them quite effectively.

Military orders go over VHF radio, not cell networks.

I have a hard time believing that Russia is incapable of invading countries without cell towers (although it would be cool if that were true!)

> I've seen various Ukranian sources mention Starlink as a useful comms tool.

That's actually yet another reason for them to take out the fiber optics. Starlink only reaches a hundred miles or so; beyond that it needs fiber.

Bit of a late reply but fyi - the Russians have been using cell networks to communicate military orders, which is perhaps the piece of the puzzle you were missing.

> Usually the military doesn't target infrastructure they'll need themselves.

Apparently the Russians destroyed mobile towers despite their own encrypted phones relying on civilian 3G/4G infrastructure:

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ukraine-russian-m...

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