After a plea tweeted at the billionaire from frailty Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov , Elon Musk redirectedhis near-2,000 Starlink satellites to underpin the country during the on-going encroachment by Russia .
Yesterday saw a truckload of Starlink satellite dishes delivered to Ukraine , with Fedorov pinch a photo and a message of thanks to Musk .
Those satellites arelikely goingto government offices , but what about the average Ukrainian citizen ? Well , at least one person – Oleg Kutkov , an engineer in Kyiv – has already managed to colligate to Starlink using his own satellite smasher , prove that despite having no Starlink serve at all until a matter of days ago , the country is now steadfastly on the celestial web .
“ I candidly did n’t think that it would work . I thought there might be some problem with obstructions , might be some problem with my Dishy , ” Kutkov toldThe Verge , reference SpaceX ’s byname for the equipment , Dishy McFlatFace .
“ But no , it just tie . I got really upright speed , really good connectivity . ”
While Ukraine currently has good internet coverage , Starlink – which provide internet using a constellation of orbiter in miserable - Earth cranial orbit , rather than cables – is being advise as a possible championship plan if Russia targets communications systems .
“ It ’s potential that the local internet base will be destroy , ” Kutkov toldInsider . “ This would be the emergency United States Department of State and time for my Dishy . ”
Just yesterday , Russian airstrikestargeteda telly tug in Kyiv – a augury that the invading forces may endeavor to disrupt Ukrainian communication systems . Meanwhile , NetBlocks , a watchdog organization that monitors cybersecurity and cyberspace exemption , hasalready reportedinternet outages in the Luhansk Oblast , where Russian forces haverecently been seenfacing down citizens .
Kutkov might be alone in his roaming of Starlink for now – he buy his dish over eBay back in December , not expecting that an invasion might motivate his country ’s sudden connection to the connection . in the beginning , he only wanted toreverse engineer“Dishy ” to learn more about the underlying engineering , he explained , and it ’s already been tinkered with so much that it ’s ineffective to scan the sky . Kutkov does n’t have a riding horse either – he consort his run by merely stick the dish antenna out of his windowpane .
Nevertheless , he read , his experimentation was a achiever .
“ I think that I could test it and report to everyone that , ‘ Yeah , this is work in Ukraine . So it ’s good to go , ’ ” he told The Verge . But , he add together , “ from a technical point of view , it ’s possible ” that the Starlink satellitesmight themselves become targetsfor Russian airstrikes .
Despite the danger , though , he says he has no plans to leave Kyiv – he was forced to leave Crimea when Russia invaded in 2014 , he told The Verge , and says he ’s not moving again .
“ I will be very , very careful , ” he said .
“ We ’re go to stand and protect our property , and I suppose we ’re going to win . ”
