Ukraine will no longer have problems with Starlink — Ukraine's Defense Minister
Photo: Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine
Ukraine will no longer have problems servicing Starlink satellite communication terminals from Elon Musk's company SpaceX.
This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, in an interview with Politico.
He said senior Ukrainian officials are in direct contact with Musk to find a way out of the dispute over payment for SpaceX's Starlink terminals, which provide critical battlefield connectivity for Ukrainian forces.
"I know that we will have no problem keeping the service (Starlink terminals – ed.) in working condition," Reznikov said, referring to "personal communication" between Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov and Elon Musk.
According to him, Fedorov is "responsible for digitalization and has a direct connection with Elon Musk. They have personal communication, and Mykhailo assessed the situation very positively during their last discussion on this issue."
Reznikov explained that if the issue of money is raised again, Ukraine has at least three sources of funding – an aid package from the Pentagon, Europe, and private donors.
But regardless of funding, Ukraine will continue communication at the technical level with Elon Musk's company, the minister added.
Reference
Earlier, the American media reported that SpaceX asked the US Ministry of Defense to take over the payment of satellite Internet services in Ukraine, which is provided by Starlink terminals.
Later, Musk clarified that he does not demand reimbursement of already incurred costs but also cannot constantly finance the operation of the transferred terminals, which will cost the company more than 120 million dollars until the end of the year and about 400 million dollars during the next 12 months.
After the outcry over the SpaceX founder's posts, Musk announced that he had decided to continue financing the services. And this Monday, Musk announced that he would create a donation function on the payment page for Starlink services. In addition, his company closed the issue and officially withdrew the mentioned request to the US Department of Defense.
After that, Mykhailo Fedorov said that the Starlink terminals were working and would continue to work.
