Russia calls out Elon Musk for aiding Ukraine with Starlink service; billionaire responds
Russia's space agency head Dmitry Rogozin said that Elon Musk's Starlink was considered "purely civilian", to which the latter responded via a clever tweet.
- World News
- 2 min read
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In the wake of the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has offered assistance to Kyiv with internet facilities through his satellite broadband enterprise Starlink, a move that carried him into the good books of many. Needless to say, this has not been well received from the Russian side, which has called out the tech mogul for his actions. Russian space agency's chief Dmitry Rogozin disapproved of the billionaire's contribution towards Ukraine's resistance against Russia, stating that Starlink was considered to be "purely civilian".
The billionaire came to know about Rogozin's statement via a Twitter handle, which quoted him during his interview with Russia Today as, "When Russia implements its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, @elonmusk appears with his Starlink which was previously declared as purely civilian. Here is this mud (мурло) opened himself". In a witty response, Musk replied to the Tweet saying, "Ukraine civilian Internet was experiencing strange outages – bad weather perhaps? – so SpaceX is helping fix it'.
Dmitry @Rogozin to Russia Today: "When Russia implements its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, @elonmusk appears with his Starlink which was previously declared as purely civilian. Here is this mud (мурло) opened himself..." https://t.co/8htcXn0Ymn
— Katya Pavlushchenko (@katlinegrey) March 2, 2022
Ukraine civilian Internet was experiencing strange outages – bad weather perhaps? – so SpaceX is helping fix it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2022
Starlink activated in Ukraine
While Musk is working to fix outages being experienced by Starlink users in Ukraine, as he said, the service was activated in the war-torn country only last month. Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had called out Musk on Twitter pleading him to help out during an internet outage in the country. "While you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand (sic)", Fedorov had written in his tweet. The wish was granted in no time as Musk responded the very next day informing about the activation of Starlink services and assured that more Starlink terminals are en route for the country.
@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022
Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2022
Russia-Ukraine war intensifies
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine transcending to day eight, the former has intensified its aggression and is reportedly targeting civilian residents now. Several videos surfacing from the war zone depict Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv being heavily bombarded by Russia. On the sidelines of the conflict, attempts for de-escalation are also being made, however, Russia claims that Kyiv is stalling the process.