Featured Image Credit: Alamy/@zelenskiy_official/Instagram
Topics: World News, Ukraine, Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk
Shola Lee
Topics: World News, Ukraine, Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked Elon Musk after the SpaceX CEO sent his Starlink satellite systems to Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy shared a clip from a video call with Musk to his Instagram account and thanked the Tesla CEO for his help and support.
The news comes as Russian president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine continues into its 10th day.
In the video Zelenskyy can be heard praising Musk, saying: 'if you have time, after the war, you are very welcome, I invite you'.
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The Ukrainian president announced the news to Twitter yesterday, March 5, explaining he 'talked to @elonmusk. 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'.
Musk first announced he would be sending his Starlink satellites to Ukraine last week, saying the services were 'active in Ukraine' and that there were 'more terminals en route'.
The move came following a tweet from Ukraine's vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov who asked for Starlink satellites to be sent to the country, as Putin's invasion disrupted internet access for Ukrainians.
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However, according to the Musk, his services are now the only non-Russian communication system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so the 'probability of [them] being targeted is high'.
As a result, he advised those using the services to only turn on the system where necessary and to use with caution.
'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', Musk also tweeted.
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In recent days Musk has made a series of tweets offering support for the people of Ukraine and the 'great people of Russia, who do not want this'.
Prior to this, on Thursday, March 3, Musk taunted Russian space agency boss Dmitry Rogozin, as per the Independent.
Musk tweeted in response to Rogozin, who suggested the US would have to go into orbit on 'their broomsticks', after Russia said it would stop providing rocket engines to the US.
Musk subsequently posted a video to Twitter of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launching an 47 Starlink satellite into orbit, along with the caption 'American broomsticks'.
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The same day he revealed that Starlink software had been updated so that it could be 'powered from car cigarette lighter'.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information