Elon Musk Is Directly Involved In The Ukraine War. Here's How
As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, the world has watched from the comfort of their Twitter feeds. This includes eccentric inventor and billionaire Elon Musk. The Tesla creator has a reputation for tweeting and stirring up controversy both for Tesla and over his political viewpoints. But now, Musk is using his power and wealth for good.
When Russia first invaded Ukraine, many feared the internet would be cut off to the country. According to Vox, many speculated this would be either through "cyberattacks or the destruction of internet infrastructure — or both." Not only would this disrupt communication, but this would also cut Ukraine off from the world, stopping news of what war crimes Russia was committing from being shared in real-time, as they are now.
To help stop this from becoming an issue, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, took to Twitter and asked Elon Musk for help. The tweet called Musk out for being in a position to help the Ukrainian people but hadn't yet at the time of the time. "While you try to colonize Mars," Fedorov wrote, "Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!" The tweet went on to request that Musk provide Ukraine with "Starlink stations" as well as "address sane Russians to stand."
Within hours, Musk responded to let Fedorov know, "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals in route."
Elon Musk's Starlink Stations are being used in Ukraine to target Russian military
Elon Musk's Starlink Stations, The Washington Post explains, offer both the Ukrainian government and its citizens a "stopgap measure" as well as a "major test of the relatively new technology" that may have "widespread implications for the future of war." Not only does the internet enable access to information and allows communication, but it's also necessary for weapons.
Power and internet outages greatly affect how the Ukrainian military is able to operate, per Daily Mail. With the introduction of Starlink, however, Ukraine has been able to connect their drones to the service — drones that are being used to target Russian forces. Not only have they been used to gather intelligence, but The Washington Post reports the drones have also been an active part of Ukraine's offensive against Russian forces.
As The Times explains, the drones are being used by Aerorozvidka, an "elite Ukrainian drone unit." Beyond information gathering, Aerozvidka has been able to take out "priority targets" including tanks, command trucks, and equipment vehicles. The Daily Mail reports the Ukrainian drones have also been able to target Russian drones.
Musk also orchestrated the launch of another 53 Starlink internet satellites, Daily Mail reports, to further bolster "the burgeoning surveillance network" within Ukraine. He also challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Twitter, writing partly in Russian, to a "one-handed fist fight for the future of Ukraine," the Washington Post translates.