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Archive photo · 10 August 2026Putin Praises Elon Musk as Genius, Says Russia Builds Rassvet With Musk Contact
“Musk has claimed that Ukraine violated Starlink’s terms of service with a so-called ‘loophole’ that he’s now closed.”
“Ukraine has depended on the satellite systems for battlefield communications, drone strikes and air defenses throughout its more than four-year war with Russia.”
Photo: Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Putin called Elon Musk a genius during Russia-Africa summit. Russia is building Rassvet, a Starlink rival, with about 30 satellites.
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Putin praises Musk, details Rassvet
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as a "genius" during a tour of an exhibition on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow on Oct. 28, and Putin said Russia is in close contact with American partners including Musk to avoid interference in orbit.
Putin told Maksut Shadayev that Musk has "more than 5,000" satellites in orbit while Russia is "only taking our first steps," as Russia develops its satellite internet network called Rassvet.
Putin said the next phase is to shift from "quality" to "quantity," and he framed the effort as Russia beginning to build independently.
The reporting tied the remarks to Starlink's role in the Russia-Ukraine war, where Ukraine relies on Starlink and its military version Starshield for battlefield communications and drone operations.
Ukraine said earlier this month that Starshield connectivity had problems, and the sources said both Trump and Musk denied responsibility for the outage.
Starlink disruptions and competing claims
Ukraine's military faced Starlink connectivity limits that BBC reported as imposed by SpaceX, and the sources said Musk acknowledged the restrictions occurred because SpaceX intentionally restricted Starlink access.
Musk later accused Ukraine's military of violating SpaceX's terms of service by using Starlink for military purposes, and the sources said the US government running Starshield did not acknowledge responsibility for the throttling.
Putin linked his satellite remarks to the need for coordination, and Putin said, "We are in close contact with our American partners, including Mr. Musk" to avoid getting in each other's way in orbit.
The sources also said Ukraine reported that Starlink and Starshield services had fully resumed operations over the weekend, while Musk continued to dispute responsibility.
The dispute remained tied to the war effort, with the sources saying Ukraine reported that speed throttling hampered its ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced some operations to be canceled.
What Russia says is at stake
Russia's satellite push centered on Rassvet as a counterpart to Starlink, and the sources said Rassvet is positioned for dual use with civilian and military communications. The sources said Russian Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev told Putin that Moscow had launched more than 30 satellites as part of the effort, while independent tracking cited in the reporting suggested Musk's active satellite count could be close to 10,000. Putin said Russia is proud it began the project independently, and Putin added that the task now is to "move from quality to quantity" as it scales up.
The reporting framed the immediate stakes around Ukraine's access to satellite connectivity, with the sources saying Ukraine relied on Starlink and Starshield for drone operations and logistical coordination along the front line. The sources also said the diplomatic context included US-Russia engagement and Ukraine's push for talks, with Zelenskyy confirming plans for negotiations in Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November.
