Enlarge / Boxes with Starlink terminals in Ukraine can be seen in a photo published by Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Fedorov.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk warned yesterday that Starlink’s consumer terminals in Ukraine could be targeted by Russia and advised consumers to take precautions. “Important note: Starlink is the only non-Russian communication system still operating in some parts of Ukraine, so you are likely to be targeted. Please use with caution “, Musk tweeted.
When asked for specific advice, Musk said people in Ukraine should turn on Starlink only when necessary, place the antenna “as far away from people as possible” and “put light camouflage on [the] antenna to avoid visual detection. “A thin layer of spray paint would work if there are no metal particles in the paint, it wrote.
A Twitter user asked Musk if Starlink could face a cyber attack from Russia, similar to the one that affected the Viasat satellite service. Musk answers“Almost all Viasat Ukraine consumer terminals were made permanently unusable by a Russian cyber attack on the day of the invasion, so … yes.”
As previously reported, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov asked Musk to activate Starlink in Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion of the country disrupted the Internet service. Musk answered in the affirmative, and two days later Fedorov tweet photo on a truck full of newly arrived Starlink terminals.
It is not clear exactly how many Starlink terminals are available in Ukraine, but Fedorov tweets to Musk: “We’ll keep you posted as we release more Starlinks across the country.”
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On Wednesday, Fedorov tweeted to Musk saying that Ukraine needs generators to support Starlink and other services online due to Russian attacks on infrastructure. Initially musk recommended solar panels and batteries, and it followed on Thursday to I say that SpaceX “updates the software to reduce peak power consumption so that Starlink can be powered by [a] Musk also wrote that “mobile roaming [has been] activated so [the] the phased array antenna can support a signal while it is on [a] moving vehicle. “
Starlink works for a user in Kyiv
Starlink has not deployed any terrestrial terminals in Ukraine, and the closest is reportedly in Vola Krobowska in Poland. Twitter user Oleg Kutkov confirmed that Starlink worked for him in Kyiv on Monday and published result of a speed test showing a download speed of 137Mbps and an upload speed of 24Mbps. He also wrote that his maximum download speed was over 200Mbps for a while.
Kutkov told Insider that he bought his Starlink plate in December before the service operated in Ukraine. “After seeing Musk’s tweet on Saturday to activate Starlink in Ukraine, Kutkov said he had decided to try to contact the service. He said he did not expect Starlink to start living in the country as soon as 10 a.m. after Ukraine asked Musk to send Starlink kits, the Insider article said.
“I did not expect it to work, but it seems that the system is stable and provides a great connection,” Kutkov told the news site. Kutkov has optical internet and said he would use Starlink if it was cut off because “it is possible that the local internet infrastructure will be destroyed.”