Poland sent Ukraine 5 thousand Starlink terminals

The Polish government has transferred another 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine, which provide communication for the military and civilians.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation, reported that hospitals, schools, and critical infrastructure facilities are also receiving the terminals.

“Starlinks will help residents of the frontline areas stay in touch: call their families, call emergency services, and read the news. Due to the shelling and destruction of base stations in the de-occupied territories, regular communication is not available,” the Minister noted.

In total, thanks to the cooperation of the Ministry of Digital Transformation with international partners and donors, Ukraine has received over 50 thousand Starlink terminals.

Most of them – 29,500 – came from Poland.

“Thanks to international support, we continue to stay connected even in the most difficult conditions,” Fedorov said.

Ukraine is also interested in switching to alternative communication systems, including Govsatcom, the EU’s unified network of national government satellite capacities.

The possibility of using the IRIS² satellite group is also being considered, but it is expected to be put into operation only in the 2030s.

So, while this system is a promising alternative, it is unsuitable for rapid deployment in the event of a sudden Starlink outage.

Instead, Govsatcom should achieve initial operational readiness this year, but only as a temporary solution until IRIS² is fully operational.

The European Union is in talks with four satellite internet operators to replace Starlink in the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The potential suppliers include Luxembourg’s SES, Spain’s Hisdesat, the UK’s Viasat, and the French-British Eutelsat/OneWeb.