- Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised Elon Musk's Starlink for helping overcome Russian propaganda.
- Ukrainians in offline areas were told by Russian troops that their country "does not exist anymore".
- It has been 100 days since Russia invaded its neighbor.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised Elon Musk's Starlink for helping Ukraine overcome Russian propaganda after people in areas without internet access were told their country "does not exist anymore" by invading troops.
Starlink, operated by SpaceX, is a constellation of satellites that helps provide internet coverage to disconnected areas, including in war-torn Ukraine where many cell towers have been destroyed.
The satellite network has been "very effective," Zelenskyy told Wired in an interview published on Thursday.
"It helped us a lot, in many moments related to the blockade of our cities, towns, and related to the occupied territories," he said.
"Sometimes we completely lost communication with those places. To lose contact with those people is to lose control completely, to lose reality. Believe me: people who got out of the occupied cities, where there was no such assistance as Starlink, said that the Russians told them that Ukraine doesn't exist anymore, and some people even began to believe it. I am really grateful for the support of Starlink," the Ukrainian leader told Wired.
Internet connections have been instrumental in Ukraine's war effort, with the "IT Army" combatting Russian cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Starlink, too, has been a target. Insider reported in May that Starlink has so far managed to resist Russia's hacking attempts, but that Moscow was ramping up its efforts.
Friday marked 100 days since Russia first invaded Ukraine at the direction of Vladimir Putin.