Elon Musk extends major olive branch to Ukraine by keeping Starlink connected

After weeks of tension between Ukraine and Tech Billionaire Elon Musk, a recent development could rekindle the friendship.

Elon Musk says he’ll keep Ukraine connected to his Starlink satellite internet just days after suggesting his company was ending its donation.

“The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions of taxpayer dollars, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine government for free,” he said begrudgingly on Sunday morning.

Musk and his venture SpaceX claim to have worn operational costs since donating the service to the besieged nation soon after Russia invaded in February.

The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022

But CNN revealed last week SpaceX said it cannot afford to continue to donate satellite internet to Ukraine and had asked the US government for financial assistance.

The arrangement, however already seemed in a precarious position as tensions between the cosmopolitan tech billionaire and Ukraine broke down over his suggestion that Ukraine surrender territory to Russia, among other recommendations.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he’ll keep Ukraine connected to his Starlink satellite internet. Photo: Odd Andersen

Ukrainians blasted Musk for his comments. Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk went as far as to tell him to “f*** off”.

Responding to a later tweet reporting Musk could no longer afford his Starlink donation to Ukraine, he replied: “We’re just following [Melnyk’s] recommendation”.

We’re just following his recommendation 🤷‍♂️

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022

But the soured relations between Musk and the people of Ukraine may now sweeten.

“You were supposed to destroy the Sith … So you did … Thank you for joining the right side. Ukraine appreciates that,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an Adviser to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote.

An army major on the front lines also thanked Musk.

“Elon, thanks for your help to Ukraine. I am Myroslav Hai. Before the war І was a teacher in National University of Theatre, Cinema and TV for 10 years. Now І am major in Army, and І use your Starlink all time,” he wrote.

An antenna of the Starlink satellite-based broadband system donated by the US tech billionaire Elon Musk in Izyum, Kharkiv region. Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba

It’s unclear how Musk plans to fund the ongoing support – or if he has done a deal for assistance for the hugely-costly exercise.

Musk and SpaceX previously claimed the rollout onto Ukraine now costs the company around $20m USD [$32.26m a month AUD] per month.

Musk said in addition to launching, maintaining and replenishing satellites and paying telcos for access to the internet via gateways, the service was also fighting off constant cyberattacks and jamming, which Musk claimed is “getting harder”.

Ukrainians have already begun to thank Musk for keeping Starlink in the besieged nation. Photo: Daniel Leal

“Burn is approaching around $20m,” he said.

“We should still do good deeds.”

The satellite internet constellation operated by Musk’s SpaceX provides satellite internet access coverage to 40 countries. About 20,000 Starlink satellite units have been donated to Ukraine since they were requested when fighting began.