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Comment by andy_ppp | Hacker News Reader

I wish Elon would learn to be more tactful with his tweets. We need to make sure we work as covertly as possible with this tech and announcing Starlink for Ukraine like it’s some PR exercise starts the Russians hacking your system immediately.

Edited to be less of an ahole while still making the same point.

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What do you mean, “we”? He founded and owns the company. He also single-handedly prioritized sending them units for free.

There is no we. There’s him. He calls the shots. He tweets what he wants. He deals with the hacking.

I’m pretty sure the Russian government would be aware of the capability too, with or without any tweets.

Sure but it speeds up the process dramatically no? Sorry I’m obviously in a bad mood this morning.

You're projecting a problem that doesn't have the implications you imagine.

As others have said, originally Fedorov Mykhailo, a Ukraine vice prime minister, publicly tweeted a request for Starlink service and terminals [0] and later thanked SpaceX after they arrived in-country [1] and today, in Ukraine media, the mayor of Kyiv is pictured with terminals about to be deployed [2]:

"“Friends! StarLink global satellite Internet stations are already in Kyiv. Two stations were provided by the Ministry of Digital Transformation. I and Volodymyr [Klitschko] agreed on provision of ten stations with international partners and friends," Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko posted on Telegram.

According to him, StarLink will help ensure the critical infrastructure of the city and the defense of the capital."

[0] https://twitter.com/FedorovMykhailo/status/14975436332932669...

[1] https://twitter.com/fedorovmykhailo/status/14983925152627466...

[2] https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3421352-starlink-statio...

To keep the information together, 5th March 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted about a further shipment of Starlink terminals for destroyed cities [0]

"Talked to @elonmusk . I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds. Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities. Discussed possible space projects . But I’ll talk about this after the war. "

[0] https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1500246977086373891

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