I have personally obtained two Starlink dishes in Ukraine. One I preordered more than a year before the war, which was fast tracked by SpaceX shortly after the war started. This was a lifesaver in the early days when power outages took down landline and mobile internet. I paid the $599 for this one.

I then ordered a second one later in 2022, thinking it will be years away. It was ready to ship in a month or so and spacex offered to ship it with no additional charge (just the $99 deposit I paid). I accepted this generous offer and am grateful to SpaceX for their help.

So technically it’s correct that SpaceX did not provide either of these dishes for free. I also paid the monthly service which is discounted compared to US rates but not free. However it’s also correct to say that SpaceX was generous in making Starlink available and gave at least one dish away for nominal cost in the early days. I’m sure I’m not the only one who benefited from this.

Starlinks are used a lot on the front. Of course they get captured by Russian forces sometimes.