'Thanx, appreciate it': Ukraine's Twitter account thanks Elon Musk for Starlink internet

The actual, official Twitter account for Ukraine has thanked billionaire Elon Musk, after the SpaceX founder confirmed satellite internet had been made available for the embattled country.

Musk’s space company has launched more than 2,000 Starlink satellites into Earth’s orbit since 2018, but no satellites were available in Ukraine.

As Russian troops continue their invasion of the state, Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s vice prime minister, called on Musk to help Ukraine with internet access.

He tweeted: “@elonmusk, while you try to colonise Mars – Russia try [sic] to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space – Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!

“We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”

Later that day, the businessman replied: “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.”

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Mr Fedorov went on to thank Musk for the intervention, along with “everyone who supported Ukraine” and the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova.

“[Thank you] for swift decisions related to authorisation and certification that allowed us to activate the Starlink in Ukraine,” he said.

However, it was the official Twitter account for Ukraine which took people by surprise on Saturday, when it chose to express its appreciation towards Musk with the phrase: “Thanx, appreciate it.”

Users have since fallen in love with the response, with one calling the admin of the account the “greatest of all time”.

It’s the latest unusual interaction to surface from the crisis, after a Ukrainian man chose to mock Russian troops by offering to “tow them back to Russia” after their tank ran out of fuel.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.