The Finnish companies ICEYE and Nokia recently announced a partnership with Ukraine to investigate developing a sovereign satellite-communications network for the nation. (Image credit: ICEYE/Nokia)

Ukraine wants its own satellite-communication system, which shouldn't be surprising given the events of the past week or so.

The Ukrainian military just signed a letter of intent with two Finnish companies — the telecom giant Nokia and satellite maker ICEYE — to look into developing a sovereign satellite-communications network for Ukraine.

"Ukraine needs secure, sovereign and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls," ICEYE cofounder and CEO Rafal Modrzewski said in a statement today (Oct. 22). "We have a proven track record of delivering sovereign missions at speed to help build that capability.…