Elon Musk sends Starlink satellites to Ukraine: the invasion of Russia has left part of the population without internet

Russia’s entry into Ukrainian territory is attracting attention from all over the planet. The last name to position itself in the conflict has been that of Elon Musk, who could not miss the appointment. In this case, the richest man in the world has come to return internet to ukrainea connection that has been lost in various parts of the territory after attacks by Vladimir Putin’s troops.

However, Musk did not come to the rescue of his own accord. The South African tycoon rresponded to the call of the deputy prime minister of UkraineMykhailo Fedorov.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s right-hand man requested the help of the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX via Twitter: “Elon Musk, while you are trying to colonize Mars, Russia is trying to occupy Ukraine! While their rockets are successfully landing from space, Russian rockets are attacking! to the Ukrainian civilian population!” Fedorov wrote.

@elonmuskwhile you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

“We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and turn to sane Russians to stand up,” Ukraine’s deputy prime minister concluded in his call for help.

Elon Musk responded to the distress call within hours

Elon Musk’s response was immediate. In just a few hours, the electric car tycoon responded to the request for help.

“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine”Musk announced on Twitter. “More terminals on the way.”

Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2022

With this brief message, Elon Musk confirmed the sending of his satellites to Ukrainian territory. However, it is not yet clear how accessible this service will be for citizens.

Specifically, the Starlink service has more than 1,500 terminals throughout the entire planet, whose purpose is to provide the population with high-speed internet.

Internet use has fallen by 17% in Ukraine

All this occurs at a time when the Russian offensive has disconnected much of the internet connection in the conflict zone. In fact, the main internet provider in the country observed a 20% disconnection during Friday. It is possible that this drop in access responds to the exodus of many of the inhabitants of these regions.

“Currently, we have seen that national connectivity only registers 87% compared to usual levelsa figure that reflects service interruptions, as well as population flight and the closure of homes and businesses since the morning of February 24″, explained Alp Toker, director of the NGO NetBlocks, to Reuters.