After a busy day at work as a software engineer, Oleg Kutkov returns to his apartment in Kyiv. He steps out onto the balcony — but not to smoke or water the flowers. Oleg’s balcony is a workshop. There, he repairs Starlink terminals damaged at the front and sends them
"If we were to take over the entire connectivity capacity for Ukraine and all the citizens — we wouldn't be able to do that. Let's just be very honest," Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke said.
Key developments on April 4: * US to know whether Russia 'serious about peace' with Ukraine in coming weeks, Rubio says * US, Russia make 'significant progress' towards Ukraine ceasefire deal, Kremlin negotiator claims * Trump's team advises against calling Putin until Russia agrees to Ukraine ceasefire, NBC reports * More F-16 jets being
Eutelsat serves as an alternative to tech billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink, which has played a key role in Ukraine's battlefield communications.
"Starlinks will help residents of the front-line territories to stay in touch: call relatives, call emergency services, read the news. Due to attacks and destruction of base stations in the de-occupied territories, regular communication is unavailable," Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
"It seems to me that everything has stopped ... the topic has moved from Starlink to the statements of and about the person," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said.
Fears of a Starlink shut-off at the front line have racked Ukraine. European satellite internet firms took the opportunity to step forward as replacements — but even collectively, they are unlikely to fill the void in coverage that Starlink's shut off would leave. Today, Starlink satellite internet service dominates both worldwide
"To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals," billionaire Elon Musk said in a post to his social media platform, X.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk sharply responded to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on March 9, dismissing Sikorski’s concerns about Starlink being cut off in the future, and urging him to be thankful for the assistance thus far.
"The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote.
"My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off," tech billionaire Elon Musk claimed on X.
"Everyone is asking us today, 'Can you replace the large number of terminals of Starlink in Ukraine,' and we are looking at that," Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told Bloomberg.
"I cannot imagine a situation in which a business relation between Poland and a U.S. company would be suddenly interrupted," Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said.
Shares in Eutelsat surged as much as 123% to 4.50 euro before settling at a 70% gain, driven by investor confidence that European leaders will increase military support for Ukraine.
Ukraine had shown interest in alternative satellite options, including Govsatcom, a shared network of EU national government satellites, and IRIS, a new constellation expected to be operational in the 2030s, according to European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski confirmed on Feb. 25 that Poland has ordered 5,000 Starlink terminals for Ukraine.
Umerov did not specify what the alternatives were or go into details about the discussions. Last month, the Digital Transformation Ministry told the Kyiv Independent that Starlinks were still a critical part of communication on the frontline and that a new order was underway.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has denied reports that the United States threatened to shut off Starlink in Ukraine unless Kyiv agreed to a minerals deal. Responding to a report by Reuters, Musk called the claim "false" and accused the news agency of lying.
The U.S. first raised the prospect of shutting off Starlink service after Zelensky rejected the deal presented on Feb. 12. Starlink terminals are critical in securing Ukraine's battlefield communications.
Ukraine's largest telecommunications operator, Kyivstar, signed an agreement to become one of the first countries with access to Starlink's direct-to-cell service, the telecom operator announced on Dec. 30.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) cited concerns over Musk's "contacts with Russia and the alleged use of his Starlink system by Russian forces in Ukraine."
In a letter seen by Reuters on Nov. 15, two senior Democratic senators argued that Musk’s involvement in SpaceX programs should be reviewed for potential debarment and exclusion due to his communications with Russian officials.
Key developments on Oct. 13: * Ukraine is holding front line in Kursk Oblast despite Russian attacks, Zelensky says * Prosecutors open investigation into alleged killing of 9 POWs by Russians in Kursk Oblast * Russia's illegal use of Starlink terminals hastened fall of Vuhledar, WP reports * Zelensky: Russia has used around 900
"They just overpowered us," an officer in the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, one of the units defending Vuhledar, told The Washington Post. The officer said Russia's access to Starlink was a key factor in the loss of the city.
After the New York Times reported that Russia has been increasingly disrupting Ukraine's Starlink service, Elon Musk said that SpaceX is spending "significant resources combating Russian jamming efforts," in a May 24 post on X.
The drone feeds that soldiers relied on to keep track of Russian movements "completely disappeared," a Ukrainian soldier told the Washington Post.
The U.S. Pentagon is preventing the Russian military from using Starlink internet terminals operated on the battlefield in Ukraine, John Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, said in an interview with Bloomberg on May 9.
Russian troops in Ukraine continue to obtain Starlink terminals through shadowy supply chains and intermediaries, while SpaceX has not shut them off, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 9.
Russian troops will soon face "maximum limitation" in the use of Starlink satellite terminals, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in an interview with Welt published on April 1.
Russia said on March 20 that U.S. spy satellites launched in collaboration with private companies such as SpaceX would be a “legitimate target for retaliatory measures, including military ones.”
The letter by congressmen Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia warned SpaceX's president, Gwynne Shotwell, that the alleged use of Starlink by Russian forces represented "a serious threat to Ukraine's security, Ukrainian lives, and U.S. national security."
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