Ukraine is now using over 10,000 Starlink dishes to stay online amidst Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country.
The news comes from Alex Bornyakov, the country’s deputy minister of digital transformation, speaking to the Washington Post earlier on Tuesday in a video interview (via PCMag).
“So, right now, it’s more than 10,000 units in Ukraine,” revealed Bornyakov. Starlink dishes accessing SpaceX’s satellite internet have been set up in hard-hit areas, such as the cities of Chernihiv and Mariupol.
“There was need for [supplying] military first and hospitals, but then we started to give them out to some enterprises because we need business running,” added Bornyakov. “We need companies to work, even in cities where it’s in close proximity from Russian troops.”
Specialist of a local provider NomeNet is installing @SpaceXStarlink station in Liubech, Chernihiv oblast. The village was occupied by RU and cut from UA. This man bypassed many mined roads to reach the village, and now its citizens have access to the world. pic.twitter.com/VHGhYwoAW7
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) April 5, 2022
Those that need to conduct business, such as international trade or need to constantly be online, have access to Starlink in Ukraine.
As for Starlink, Bornyakov said, “the service has been great.” He touched on the safety risk of Starlink dishes, noting they are very small and “hard to identify”. He noted the Russians may not be aware of Starlink technology and equipment may not have been tweaked to detect the dishes. He said he has not heard of any instance where Starlink was a trap on the battlefield.
Ukrainian soldiers have also been using Starlink as an important communication tool.
According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), it has delivered 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine through a public-private partnership with SpaceX.
A press release earlier stated the amount given by SpaceX was $10 million, or 3,667 terminals (with USAID donating the other 1,333), but the dollar figure was later edited and removed, as spotted by reporter Joey Roulette.
A USAID spox clarified the terminals were "made possible by a range of stakeholders, whose combined contributions valued over $15M and facilitated the procurement, international flights, on-the-ground transportation, and satellite Internet service of 5,000 Starlink terminals"
— Joey Roulette (@joroulette) April 6, 2022
According to a USAID spokesperson, various stakeholders helped contribute $15 million for 5,000 Starlink terminals to be shipped and delivered to Ukraine.
