Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Is ‘Grateful’ For Elon Musk’s Starlink Support

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has thanked SpaceX founder Elon Musk for setting up the Starlink satellite Internet service for Ukrainian cities that have been “destroyed” during the Russian invasion.

Zelenskyy said that he was “grateful” for the tech entrepreneur for supporting Ukraine in both “words and deeds,” according to the Independent.

Earlier this week, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites became active over Ukraine, helping citizens, military, and government officials stay connected to the world through Internet services as Russian military forces continue to bomb the country. Many large cities throughout Ukraine were left without phone or Internet service after being shelled by Russian military forces.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian President revealed that he had spoken to Elon Musk directly and reported that even more satellites would be sent to Ukraine to support the country in the current crisis.

“Talked to @elonmusk,” he tweeted on Saturday. “I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds. Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities. Discussed possible space projects. But I’ll talk about this after the war.”

Many users expressed support for Elon Musk supporting Ukraine in the crisis.

“@elonmusk believes on furthering humanity with good actions,” one user wrote. “He follows through.”

“Hey @JeffBezos can Ukraine expect any help from you?” another asked, referring to Bezos’ Blue Origin space shuttle service. Others had idea how Bezos could use his Amazon service to help refugees.

“Right? Wouldn't it be great if Ukrainians and other war refugees could create @amazon wish lists, people all over the world could buy items for refugees, and Bezos could use his drones and robots to deliver the goods?” one user suggested.

“That’s a great idea,” another replied.

On Saturday, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, showed off the Starlink systems that had arrived and explained that they would help provide critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s capital city. Starlink satellites work by hovering around the Earth in low-orbit space. People can then use a kit provided by SpaceX to access the signals from the satellite, which are then beamed back to Earth.

Elon Musk indicated that he would be activating these satellites all over Ukraine after Ukraine’s vice prime minister appealed to him to help keep people connected amid attacks from Russia.

Ever since Russia started its invasion at the end of Ukraine at the end of February, they have begun shelling and bombing Ukrainian cities. Hundreds of civilians are feared dead and over 1.5 estimated civilians have fled the country.

On March 4, Musk tweeted, “SpaceX reprioritized to cyber defense & overcoming signal jamming. Will cause slight delays in Starship & Starlink V2.”

A day later, on March 5, Musk added, “Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint.”

“Sorry to be a free speech absolutist,” he added.