After Russia’s invasion, many feared Ukraine’s internet access would be cut off, either through cyberattacks or the destruction of internet infrastructure — or both. While there have been some temporary outages and attacks on government websites, for the most part, there hasn’t been an internet blackout yet. Even so, after Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted an appeal to Elon Musk, the billionaire sent help.
After asking SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for assistance, Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry received a shipment of Starlink terminals.
“Starlink — here. Thanks, @elonmusk,” Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted alongside an image of the back of a lorry loaded with terminals.
Musk tweeted back, “You are most welcome”.
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Starlink will help Ukraine have internet access
The terminals look like home satellite television dishes and can provide relatively fast internet service, by residential standards, by connecting to a fleet of satellites in low orbit.
Starlink — here. Thanks, @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/dZbaYqWYCf
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 28, 2022
Earlier this week, a truckload of Starlink satellite dishes, also known as Dishys, showed up in Ukraine. Elon Musk also turned on Starlink’s space internet service in the country, ushering in a round of positive headlines about his world-saving generosity. It’s not clear if or when Ukraine will need alternate internet service, but it can’t hurt to have the public support of the richest man in the world.
Thanks 🙏 https://t.co/eWTKXCBXlG
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 3, 2022