Zelensky grateful to Musk for "words and deeds"
The Ukrainian President has said Elon Musk will send more Starlink systems.
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Zelensky invites Musk to visit Ukraine after the war (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed he met with Elon Musk via video conference on Saturday, and the Tesla and SpaceX CEO promised to deploy more Starlink systems to the country in the midst of the Russian military operation.
According to the president, the country will get more equipment next week to connect to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet network.
Zelensky tweeted that he was grateful to Musk for "supporting Ukraine with words and deeds."
In the meantime, SpaceX's Starlink satellites were deployed across Ukraine after a request from the Ukrainian Vice PM, promising more are yet to come, according to Musk himself.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, tweeted Musk requesting that SpaceX switch on its Starlink broadband satellites to supplement the country's Internet services which have been allegedly disrupted during Russia's special military operation.
@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
Within hours, his request was granted just like that. "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route," Musk tweeted in reply.
Despite the ongoing military operation, Zelensky stated that he and Musk “discussed possible space projects" on Saturday.
The besieged Ukrainian leader shared an Instagram video of himself sitting in front of a laptop, chatting to the world's richest man.
In the video, Zelensky invites Musk to visit Ukraine after the war, adding, "After the war, you're very welcome." The entrepreneur said the plan "sounds good."
Musk has also been asked to prohibit Russian media on Starlink, but the entrepreneur has flatly refused.
On Saturday, he Tweeted that “We will not do so unless at gunpoint. Sorry to be a free speech absolutist."
Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022
Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.
Russia launched a special operation to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine, in response to requests from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics for assistance in combating Ukrainian troops' aggression. The special operation is only targeting Ukrainian military facilities, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, and the civilian population is not at risk. Moscow has stated that it has no intention of occupying Ukraine.
