Musk’s Starlink to Provide Space-Based Mobile Service in Ukraine
- Kyivstar to offer text messages via Starlink by late 2025
- Starlink terminals are critical to Ukraine’s war effort
In June, Kyivstar pledged to invest $1 billion over a five-year period through 2027 to restore Ukraine’s digital infrastructure.
Photographer: Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Kyivstar PJSC, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, signed a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink to introduce satellite-powered cellular service in the war-torn country in a bid to place telecom infrastructure beyond the reach of Russian attacks.
The deal will allow Kyivstar customers to use space-based connectivity when the terrestrial network is unable to service an area, the Ukrainian company said in a statement on Monday. Kyivstar expects to offer text messaging using the technology in the fourth quarter of 2025, and will expand to voice and data in later stages.