Ukrainian drones relied on Starlink to strike the Russian army. Also, people living in besieged cities have managed to keep in touch with their loved ones
Whenever Oleksiy and his colleagues “hit” one Russian target, thank a person. He is the richest man in the world, Ίλον Μασκ.
As Politico writes, in the small town Izum (Izyum), in his area Kharkivin eastern Ukrainefierce battles have been going on all this time, Oleksiy – he does not want to reveal his last name – has a powerful weapon: the Starlink. That is, the satellite system built by SpaceX to provide its satellite internet Ίλον Μασκ. The system consists of thousands of small satellites in low earth orbit (LEO), in combination with ground transceivers.
Oleksiy when planning a counterattack against him of the Russian army, calls his superiors for last-minute commands via a rectangular Starlink satellite receiver, in white and gray, hidden in a shallow pit in the garden of an abandoned house. The high-tech equipment is connected to a noisy generator that operates for half a day.
It’s not just about military communications. Others in Ukraine’s 93rd Motorized Brigade inform friends and family that they are safe through daily encrypted satellite messagesafter the local mobile network was interrupted weeks ago during heavy bombardment.
In their spare time, Oleksiy and his comrades watch the latest developments in the war via Starlink’s internet connection and – when there is a break between artillery duels – play “Call of Duty” at smartphones while hiding in shelters and waiting for orders.
«Thanks, Elon Musk “, Said Oleksiy immediately after his connection via Starlink satellites, while shortly afterwards it would become known that the Biden government would send long-range missiles to the Ukrainian army to confront the Russians.
And it is true, as pointed out in the Politico report, that the United States, the European Union and other NATO countries have provided billions of dollars in military equipment to Ukraine since the start of the war in late February. However, the Starlink by Elon Musk has become a “lifeline” for the country, both on the battlefield and in the war of impressions and the image of Ukraine to the outside.
Unlike traditional giant satellites that orbit at high altitudes above the earth’s surface, here the operation is based on an interconnected system of many small satellites, located at a much lower altitude.
It is much more difficult for the opponent’s “hackers” to disrupt the system as a whole – much more so as the password of each terminal can be changed relatively easily to avoid cyber attacks. Something that, as Musk himself has said, has happened repeatedly, as the Kremlin mechanism has intensified its efforts to “break” the system.
Ukrainian drones relied on Starlink to strike the Russian army. Also, people living in besieged cities have managed to keep in touch with their loved ones via satellites.
Impressive is also the fact that even the Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, informs the citizens of his country through social media, with the help of the network of Elon Musk, while making calls through Zoom and conversing with political leaders around the world, such as US President Joe Biden , to the French leader, Emanuel Macron.
The Ukrainian troops that withstood the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol managed to maintain contact with their commanders, and even with the President of Ukraine, through the Starlink system. Starlink thwarted Russia’s attempts to cut off the country and contact with the outside world, and had significant results in Moscow’s propaganda operation.
The commanders have been impressed by the company’s ability to deliver thousands of backpack satellite stations within a few days to the war-torn country and keep them running despite increasingly sophisticated attacks from Russian hackers.
