Elon Musk Is The 'Real Hero' In The 'Networked' Russia-Ukraine War, Former Google CEO Says

Alphabet, Inc. GOOGL GOOG advisor Eric Schmidt, who also previously served as the Chairman and CEO of its Google unit, showered Elon Musk with praise during a public appearance in Ukraine.

What Happened: Schmidt recently visited Ukraine on a personal mission to scope out the country’s military tech operations and also met with the country’s Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, Protocol reported. The meeting was also confirmed through a tweet by Andrii Yermak, who is serving as the head of the office of the president of Ukraine.

Together with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine @oleksiireznikov held a meeting with the former executive director and chairman of the board of Google, ex-executive chairman and technical advisor of Alphabet @ericschmidt. pic.twitter.com/SP18jdoaiw

— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) September 11, 2022

The Ukraine war is the "first networked war," Schmidt wrote in the September edition of the newsletter of the Special Competitive Studies Project, of which he is the chairman.

See also: Elon Musk's SpaceX Collaborates With T-Mobile To Put An End To Cell Phone 'Dead Zones'

Starlink Gets Pat On Back: The adoption of Starlink very early had a huge impact in helping the government, Schmidt said in the SCSP newsletter. He noted that there are now about 20,000 terminals in the country.

Starlink is Musk’s SpaceX unit-owned entity that provides low-latency, high-speed satellite internet service. In the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine war, at the request of Ukraine, Musk sent Starlink terminals to the war-ravaged nation, which was then facing an internet blackout following attacks by its bigger neighbor.

“Elon is a real hero in the story,” Schmidt said at an event on Friday, according to Protocol. “I was on a train — brand new, built in May, in Ukraine — where, as a passenger on the train, I had 200 megabits coming down. Imagine if that were true on Amtrak, right?” he reportedly said.

Photo: Created with an image from Steve Jurvetson on flickr