Why is Starlink trending on Twitter? Elon Musk activates satellite service in war-stricken Ukraine

On February 26, Ukrainian Vice President Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted a plea to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to provide Starlink coverage across the Eastern-European country. Fedorov also urged Musk to address the Russians to stand down from their attack on Ukraine.A few hours later, on Sunday, Musk took to Twitter to respond to Fedorov by providing his services in Ukraine. However, the billionaire is yet to respond to the Vice President's plea for him to be vocal about Russia's incursion.Elon Musk@elonmusk@FedorovMykhailo Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.4:03 AM · Feb 27, 2022736859132333@FedorovMykhailo Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.SpaceX's satellite internet service is currently essential in Ukraine as the Russian offensive has disrupted connectivity nationwide. According to Euronews, southern and eastern regions of the country have had their internet services impacted.Starlink trends on Twitter as Elon Musk deploys the service across UkraineMykhailo Fedorov@FedorovMykhailo@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.5:36 AM · Feb 26, 202215661021589@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.On Saturday, Ukraine's Vice President called out Musk in a tweet and requested him to deploy his internet service satellites over the country. In his tweet, Fedorov wrote:&quot;While you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine!&quot;He also drew a contrast between SpaceX's rockets landing from space and the missiles launched by the Russian military striking Ukraine. The tweet seems to have paid off as Musk decided to provide the necessary deployment of the Starlink satellites. Later, Fedorov thanked Musk in a tweet.Mykhailo Fedorov@FedorovMykhailoStarlink terminals are coming to Ukraine! Thank you @elonmusk, thank you everyone, who supported Ukraine!4:15 AM · Feb 27, 2022738009462Starlink terminals are coming to Ukraine! Thank you @elonmusk, thank you everyone, who supported Ukraine! https://t.co/xHDYHunhsWThe VP wrote:&quot;Starlink terminals are coming to Ukraine! Thank you @elonmusk, thank you everyone, who supported Ukraine!&quot;Following his breakthrough with Elon Musk via Twitter, Mykhailo Fedorov also urged Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. He asked the entrepreneur to block Meta's services like Instagram and Facebook in Russia until the nation backs out of attacking Ukraine.Mykhailo Fedorov@FedorovMykhailoMark Zuckerberg, while you create Metaverse — Russia ruins real life in Ukraine! We ask you to ban access to @facebookapp and @instagram from Russia — as long as tanks and missiles attack our kindergartens and hospitals! @Meta.7:55 AM · Feb 27, 2022107992938Mark Zuckerberg, while you create Metaverse — Russia ruins real life in Ukraine! We ask you to ban access to @facebookapp and @instagram from Russia — as long as tanks and missiles attack our kindergartens and hospitals! @Meta.Similarly, Fedorov urged Visa, Mastercard, and crypto exchange platforms to block Russian users.Netizens applaud Musk for providing Ukraine with Starlink coverage, but how is that a concern?Following Elon Musk's response to Fedorov's plea about internet coverage through SpaceX's service, the firm quickly provided Ukraine with Starlink. Musk's quick initiative was praised by numerous followers.M-L 🐝&diams;️@Mietzchnable219@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Ladys and gentlemen, that's my boss and he's probably crazy but he is also one of the most decent human beings on the planet. And no matter what the press wrote, I never doubted it.4:45 AM · Feb 27, 202213960308@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Ladys and gentlemen, that's my boss and he's probably crazy but he is also one of the most decent human beings on the planet. And no matter what the press wrote, I never doubted it.Jeremy Padawer@JeremyCom@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo TRANSLATION - &quot;Ukraine people have access to the fastest satellite internet system ever created. Russia can not disable the Ukrainian internet access fully without cyber attacking foreign data centers.&quot;4:22 AM · Feb 27, 2022266352071@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo TRANSLATION - &quot;Ukraine people have access to the fastest satellite internet system ever created. Russia can not disable the Ukrainian internet access fully without cyber attacking foreign data centers.&quot;Gisli Olafsson@gislio@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Great first step @elonmusk! Can you also make sure humanitarian response organizations serving refugees in neighboring countries are also able to get terminals and access - for free. With hundreds of thousands already across the border and millions expected - the need is great!2:52 AM · Feb 27, 20221637@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Great first step @elonmusk! Can you also make sure humanitarian response organizations serving refugees in neighboring countries are also able to get terminals and access - for free. With hundreds of thousands already across the border and millions expected - the need is great!Amogh Mishra 🇺🇦@MishraAmogh@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Legend!! That's the speed we are asking from UN, US, EU, NATO!4:05 AM · Feb 27, 20225828175@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Legend!! That's the speed we are asking from UN, US, EU, NATO!Shibetoshi Nakamoto@BillyM2k@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo that is badass6:18 AM · Feb 27, 20226330200@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo that is badassR3xSy@DontPanicTSLA@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo I love that Ukraine is being helped. And I knew Elon would eventually do something. My only point on this tweet is that, why does everyone always asks Elon do this or do that? Gates, Bezos, Zuck or all the other billionaires in the world, what the hell R they doing? #Nothing7:01 AM · Feb 27, 202227020@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo I love that Ukraine is being helped. And I knew Elon would eventually do something. My only point on this tweet is that, why does everyone always asks Elon do this or do that? Gates, Bezos, Zuck or all the other billionaires in the world, what the hell R they doing? #NothingWandrinstar@wandrinstar@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Woah! That was amazingly fast. Thank you for being on the side of right at this moment!4:05 AM · Feb 27, 2022498375@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Woah! That was amazingly fast. Thank you for being on the side of right at this moment!尹天熾 - A.K.A. RandyVegetables@RandyVegetables@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Thank you @elonmusk .If more terminals are needed, I'm sure many of your subscribers are willing and able to bring ours in.I am. Everyone I know with a Starlink terminal are also willing!Some of us are not far from the borders. Can also deliver to embassies and consulates4:23 AM · Feb 27, 2022153282@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo Thank you @elonmusk 🙏.If more terminals are needed, I'm sure many of your subscribers are willing and able to bring ours in.I am. Everyone I know with a Starlink terminal are also willing!Some of us are not far from the borders. Can also deliver to embassies and consulatesYogesh 🇮🇳@namesakeyogi@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo I started admiring you more when you turned power back on at the Children’s hospital in Puerto Rico after it was hit by a hurricane. Today that admiration has doubled. Thank you, you are awesome!4:15 AM · Feb 27, 2022278587@elonmusk @FedorovMykhailo I started admiring you more when you turned power back on at the Children’s hospital in Puerto Rico after it was hit by a hurricane. Today that admiration has doubled. Thank you, you are awesome!However, cybersecurity researcher John Scott-Railton cited concerns over the service's deployment over the country, which is under attack by the Russian military.Scott-Railton, who researches malware, tweeted that Russia may intercept the Starlink data as it gets uploaded from the user's terminal to the satellites. The Russian military could use this to coordinate airstrikes in places with heavy data transmissions to SpaceX satellites.John Scott-Railton@jsrailtonRe: @elonmusk's starlink donation.Good to see.But remember: if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, users' uplink transmissions become beacons... for airstrikes. Some background 1/6:56 AM · Feb 27, 202226721210Re: @elonmusk's starlink donation.Good to see.But remember: if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, users' uplink transmissions become beacons... for airstrikes. Some background 1/ https://t.co/0p6J87TtUFJohn Scott-Railton also linked a report about former president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Dzhokhar Dudayev's death. In the report, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty claimed that Russia coordinated a missile strike against Dudayev by tracking his satellite phone. This could imply the possibility of Russia using the same tactics if tensions with Ukraine further rise.Further concerns lie with SpaceX's security of the satellite internet service. While the service does employ measures against maintaining the privacy and security of transmitted data, the firm does not guarantee complete security against all potential data breaches.

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