Leaked documents reveal growing military cooperation between Russia and China against Starlink

Starlink as the backbone of Ukrainian warfare

Ukraine received tens of thousands of Starlink terminals; at the time of the reported meeting in Guangzhou, more than 40,000 devices were reportedly in use. In February 2026, Starlink connectivity was cut off for Russian units in the occupied territories after SpaceX shut off signal access under political pressure. Russian troops have since been attempting to compensate for the outage with a Chinese solution.

The leaked presentations, shown at secret meetings since 2023 between Russian military officials and researchers from both countries, outline a multi-stage approach against Starlink. A first stage envisions pushing through new regulations at the international level that would restrict the further expansion of the network. As a third escalation stage, the documents mention sabotaging the network with viruses or using space weapons to destroy more satellites than Starlink can replace.

Global consequences of an attack on the satellite network

An attack on Starlink would have global consequences according to the report: it could significantly impact world trade and severely disrupt globalized supply chains. Many Western armed forces use Starlink as an integral part of their communications. Under NATO doctrine, a serious cyberattack on a member state's infrastructure can potentially trigger Article 5, the alliance's mutual defense clause.

Beyond the Starlink cooperation, both states are deepening their military collaboration. As early as 2023, China and Russia agreed in Moscow to jointly develop a system to defend against hypersonic cruise missiles, which travel at more than five times the speed of sound and are extremely maneuverable. The goal of the cooperation is to surpass the most modern American systems.

Shift in the balance of power between Moscow and Beijing

According to the reports, the relationship between the two countries has noticeably changed: Russia and China are increasingly appearing as equal partners, with China more often taking the lead. Russia, which still has a technological lead in the area of missile defense, has recently shown itself willing to share this knowledge with China — a reversal of the previous customer-supplier relationship. The background is that China has frequently copied Russian military technology shortly after purchasing it in the past.

China is also interested in Russian expertise in building nuclear submarines; whether cooperation has already begun does not emerge from the leaked documents. Beijing has made clear that a Russian defeat in the Ukraine campaign would not be in its interest. At the same time, China regularly denies supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine and officially presents itself as neutral.

Joint maneuvers and open questions

Both countries also regularly conduct joint maneuvers to signal that they would cooperate in the event of a conflict. Many experts see the lack of combat experience of the Chinese People's Liberation Army — its last combat deployment dates to border clashes with Vietnam in 1979 — as a significant weakness that could impair a potential attack on Taiwan. The armed forces of both states, according to the reports, have not yet reached the level of interoperability that the United States maintains with its allies.

The report was broadcast on 10 July 2026 on the Deutschlandfunk program. "Le Monde" and "The Insider" published similar accounts. The documents also mention newer tanks, including the American AbramsX, the German KF51 Panther from Rheinmetall, and the German-French EMBT.

The revelations come at a time when the German federal government is reassessing the security policy risks of the Chinese-Russian rapprochement. Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has repeatedly pointed to the growing military cooperation of the two states and called for a strengthening of European defense capabilities.