Billionaire Elon Musk announced late last night that his company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service is available in Ukraine, with SpaceX sending more terminals to the country whose Internet has been disrupted by the Russian invasion, Reuters reported.

“The Starlink service is already active in Ukraine. More terminals are on the way,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

Musk’s statement came in response to a tweet from a Ukrainian government official who asked Musk to provide Starlink stations to the affected country.

“Elon Musk, while trying to colonize Mars – Russia is trying to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land on Earth – Russian rockets attack Ukrainian citizens!”, wrote on Twitter, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov.

Internet connectivity in Ukraine has been affected by the Russian invasion, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country, where fighting is hardest, Internet monitoring companies said on Saturday.

Although extremely expensive to deploy, Starlink satellite technology can provide the Internet to people living in rural or hard-to-maintain areas where fiber optic cables and cell towers are in short supply. Technology can also be a key support when hurricanes or other natural disasters disrupt communication.

On January 15, Elon Musk said his company SpaceX had 1,469 active Starlink satellites and 272 would soon be in operational orbit.

/BNR

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