RIYADH: The Ukrainian government started asking for donations in cryptocurrency to help fund its fightback, following Russia"s invasion last week. The official Twitter account for Ukraine tweeted: “Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT.” The tweet addressed Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT donations. Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister of Ukraine, also tweeted a similar message. “The Ukrainian government and NGOs providing support to the military have raised $17.2 million through thousands of cryptocurrency donations since the start of the invasion,” Elliptic, a blockchain data analytics company said on Sunday. “The addresses mentioned in the tweets have already received $10.6 million across 13,670 transactions,” according to Elliptic. The company also added that: “The majority of donations received to date have been in Bitcoin and Ether, although US dollar Stablecoins contribute a significant proportion.” Elliptic further noted that crypto backers are not only donating cryptocurrency to the Ukrainian government. “People are also sending NFTs to the Ukrainian government’s Ethereum account. One such NFT has a value of approximately $300,” Elliptic said. In addition to donations to the Ukrainian government, a large amount of donations in cryptocurrency has been received by a non-governmental organization, Bitcoin.com reported. Elon Musk Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has announced that Starlink satellite Internet service has been enabled for Ukraine. “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,” Musk tweeted. The satellite internet constellation is operated by SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and provider of space transportation services founded and managed by Musk. He also tweeted that the company is sending the necessary equipment to the Ukrainians. The move comes in response to a request from the Kyiv government, which is trying to stop a Russian military attack that could disrupt communications. “Starlink terminals are coming to Ukraine! Thank you @elonmusk, thank you everyone, who supported Ukraine!,” Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted. Daily trading Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded lower on Monday, falling by 1.62 percent to $38,338 at 12:40 p.m. Riyadh time. Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $2,629, down by 4.62 percent, according to data from CoinDesk.