A Ukrainian soldier stated that Elon Musk's Starlink satellites "changed the course of the war in favor of Ukraine" as they helped troops stay connected to the internet amid Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. British independent journalist David Patrikarakos, who was working from the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, reported the comments of soldier Dima. Dima, who has been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces since March, said according to Patrikarakos: "I want to say one thing: Elon Musk's Starlink is what changed the war in favor of Ukraine."
Dima added: "Russia made every effort to blow up all our communications. Now they cannot do that. Starlink works under Katyusha fire and under artillery fire. It even works in Mariupol." Starlink is the satellite-based internet division of SpaceX, Musk's space exploration company. On February 27, three days into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Musk announced the activation of Starlink in Ukraine.
His announcement followed a request from Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on Twitter to send the stations to his country. At that time, internet flows across the country were deteriorating due to Russian attacks. As of last month, over 5,000 Starlink internet stations have been activated in the country, according to The Washington Post. Fedorov told the newspaper that Starlink has proven to be "extremely effective" for Ukraine amidst the invasion.
The satellites have directly assisted Ukrainian forces in combat. The Times of London reported last month that an elite Ukrainian drone unit is using Starlink to destroy dozens of Russian targets at night. The unit's commander told The Times: "If we use a drone with thermal vision at night, the drone must connect through Starlink to the artillery man to shell the observed targets."
