The head of the Digital Ministry talked about communication with Elon Musk and "lower prices" for Starlink

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov called the American billionaire Elon Musk "one of the largest private donors of Ukraine's future victory." He said this in an interview with Radio Liberty, which was published on February 3.

“I think his [Elon Musk's] personal contribution, his company, is more than $100 million. And this is an investment. He is one of the largest private donors to our future victory. Therefore, we continue to communicate today. Recently, I sent him a photo of the latest batch of Starlink, how people use them, how operators are powered, energy infrastructure," said the head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Ukraine.

Mykhailo Fedorov said that he keeps in touch with Elon Musk and tells him about Ukraine.

"I am trying to convey our position, talk a little more about Ukraine, so far there is feedback and there is help. And I am very careful about our relations, I am trying to show that we are the most effective partners," the minister told a RFE/RL journalist in Sofia on Wednesday According to Fedorov, he sends Elon Musk photos and memes with "starlinks".

When asked whether Musk's statements about the impossibility of providing Starlink terminals to Ukraine for free had any influence, Fedorov noted that after that "Ukraine has already received many batches at a price that is slightly lower than what they are worth... They continue to actively support us ".

Fedorov emphasized the importance of Starlink terminals in this war: "My subjective opinion is that HIMARS is as important as Starlink. And maybe Starlinks are even a little more important. Because it is a link for our military, it is a link communication for our civilians, it is an element of the critical infrastructure of our army, our country."

According to the minister, there are currently over 30,000 Starlinks in Ukraine, "now we will bring another batch of 10,000", added the head of the Ministry of Statistics.



Elon Musk's Starlink is a satellite Internet network of the company SpaceX, which includes more than 2,000 satellites orbiting the Earth and communicating with thousands of ground terminals.

In February, with the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Elon Musk provided Ukraine with Starlink terminals free of charge for the needs of the Ukrainian military.

On October 13, the American channel CNN , referring to a letter it received, reported that Elon Musk's company SpaceX had already applied to the US Department of Defense in September with a request to take over the financing of the use of Starlink for the Ukrainian government and army. It is about more than 120 million dollars by the end of the year and about 400 million for the next year.

In October of the same year, the head of SpaceX, Elon Musk, said that providing Starlink to Ukraine cost his company $80 million and may exceed $100 million by the end of the year. He also wrote on Twitter that in order to achieve peace, Ukraine should remain neutral, and Crimea should be given to Russia.




Mask's statement caused the condemnation of Ukrainian society and the reaction of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Musk later said he continued to support Ukraine, but opposed a "large-scale escalation" in Russia's war against Ukraine.