Ukraine will receive over 10,000 Starlink antennas to help counter Russian air attacks, said Mykhailo Fedorov, deputy prime minister and minister for digital transformation, in an interview with Bloomberg.
Fedorov said that he has spoken with Elon Musk directly and that SpaceX and its CEO “quickly react to problems and help us.” Elon Musk assured the minister of his continued support for the nation.
Musk assured us he would continue to support Ukraine. When we had a powerful blackout, I messaged him on that day, and he momentarily reacted and has already delivered some steps. He understands the situation,” he said.
He added that Ukraine has received around 22,000 Starlink antennas since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The good news is that previous financial problems have been solved. Fedorov said that several European Union countries are ready to share the payment.
As of now, all financial issues have been resolved,” he said. He pointed out that the nation will need to find more funding in the spring. He also shared that Ukraine is preparing for the possibility of a worst-case scenario where the power, heating, water supplies, and sewage could be cut off for days or weeks.
Although he didn’t share the names of those countries willing to share the payment, a total of 27 EU foreign ministers discussed funding Starlink service in Ukraine. The discussion took place in October and one leader, Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Foreign Minister of Lithuania, said the discussion was in its early stages.
Fedorov also spoke of Ukraine’s backup plan for the possible loss of those above-mentioned services. The plan includes setting up key locations where citizens can get uninterrupted access to those services with the internet being powered by Starlink.
“We are ready to live without electricity for a month with at least mobile network and text messages being available.”
“Regarding internet, we have a lot of Starlinks, but the key point is we have got a nod for another shipment that will be used to stabilize connection for critical situations.”
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