Ministry of Digital Transformation seeks to stop Starlink operations in occupied territories, they will operate in Ukraine – 1st Dpty PM
Starlink operations in occupied territories are a challenge that the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is currently working on, First Deputy Prime Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov told journalists in Zhytomyr region during testing of Starlink Direct to Cell technology together with Kyivstar.
"For us, there is a challenge now that Starlink operates in temporarily occupied territory… We cannot comment much on this topic and go into details, but it is a challenge for us. We are working on it and, I am sure, we will resolve this issue," Fedorov noted.
At the same time, he assured that Starlink will operate in Ukraine.
According to Fedorov, there is communication with founder and owner of SpaceX Elon Musk, who publicly promised that nothing will happen to Starlink in Ukraine and this satellite communication will work.
"He understands that we have a large number of hospitals, schools, and the civilian sector covered by Starlink... Therefore, as of today ... everything has become (stable)," the first deputy prime minister emphasized.
He added that for general understanding it is very important to add that Ukraine, due to the war, probably has one of the largest numbers of active Starlinks in the world today, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation alone has delivered over 50,000 of them.
"A large number of Starlinks influence how the company reacts to the development of a particular region and in general to feedback on services," says Fedorov.
In his opinion, the launch of Kyivstar's Starlink Direct to Cell technology on the basis of a commercial agreement with SpaceX also deepens and strengthens these ties between Musk's company and Ukraine, making them even more built on the "win-win" principle.
The First Deputy Prime Minister reported that the new technology opens up new opportunities, but also assured that the Ministry of Digital Transformation is doing everything to ensure that there is both military LTE and other alternative technologies, including satellite ones, so that Ukraine is ready for any scenario, "and not so that we count on only one technology."