Russia invaded Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, February 24, with the stated intention of degrading the country.
The invasion was preceded by a speech by Russian President Putin, in which he claimed that Ukraine was not a real country.
As troops advanced, internet access was disrupted, which raised fears about citizens being able to stay in touch with relatives, find safety, and share their experiences with those outside the country.
The Starlink was one of the possible solutions because it is suited for use in areas where internet is unreliable or unavailable.
Here is what we know about Starlink systems in Ukraine.
On the day after the attack, Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice prime minister who also oversees digital transformation, urged Musk to give Ukraine Starlink stations.
Just 10 hours later, Musk said that the system was active in Ukraine and that more terminals were on the way.
A truck full of Starlink terminals arrived in Ukraine two days after the Fedorov exchange, according to a government official.
Fedorov posted a picture of the truck after thanking Musk.
Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Musk for his support of Ukraine.
—Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 28, 2022
One Starlink customer, Oleg Kutkov, said he decided to try and connect to the service after seeing Musk's post about it being activated in Ukraine. He did not think Starlink would go live so soon after Ukraine asked Musk to send kits.
The Starlink kit was successfully tested after an initial failure.
Musk advised users to be careful when using Starlink, as he believed the systems could be targeted in the ongoing war. He advised users to place the antenna far away from people and to cover the device with light camouflage to avoid detection.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2022
Musk said on Saturday that some governments asked Starlink to block Russian news sources.
He said that they wouldn't do it unless they had a gun. I apologize to be a free speech absolutist.
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