Putin called Elon Musk «a real genius» and spoke about contacts on satellite internet

Statement at the Russia–Africa summit

On October 28, on the sidelines of the Russia–Africa summit in Moscow, while touring an exhibition, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia maintains contacts with American partners, including SpaceX head Elon Musk, on issues related to low-orbit satellite constellations. This was reported by the TASS agency, ; Putin's remarks were also cited by the BBC.

«A real genius» and Russia's answer to Starlink

Putin called Musk «a genius, a real genius», noting that Musk has «more than 5,000» spacecraft in orbit, while Russia is «taking its first steps» (AFP). According to the BBC, SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. The remarks concerned the «Rassvet» system — a satellite constellation for broadband internet being developed by the company «Bureau 1440». According to Kun.uz, the first 16 production satellites were launched into orbit in March, and a second group in July; the commercial launch of the service is planned for next year, and by 2035 the number of satellites is expected to exceed 900. The Russian Embassy in South Africa, according to the BBC, called «Rassvet» «a Russian alternative to Starlink» and stressed that these are only the country's «first steps» in this field. For comparison, the BBC cites SpaceX's own figures of about 13,000 Starlink satellites launched, and online trackers showing only a few dozen «Rassvet» satellites in orbit.

Context: the dispute over Starlink

The statement came amid a dispute between Ukraine and the United States. Earlier this month, according to Kun.uz, Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Musk and Donald Trump for testing restrictions on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' access to the Starlink network, which helps repel Russian missile and drone attacks. Trump denied having ordered internet speeds to be reduced, while Musk accused Ukraine of violating the service's terms by using the network for drone strikes; on October 24 Kyiv announced the tests had been canceled, and The Wall Street Journal, as Kun.uz writes, had earlier reported that Trump asked Musk to lift those restrictions. The BBC notes that the Ukrainian army suddenly faced Starlink connection problems last week, and Musk admitted that SpaceX had done this deliberately. AFP also links Putin's statement to the dispute over Starshield — SpaceX's military version of the network, access problems with which Ukraine began reporting this month. Both sides — Trump and Musk — denied responsibility for the outages, AFP notes.

A rapprochement between Moscow and Washington

The BBC notes that Putin's comments came amid an apparent rapprochement between the US and Russia — nearly five years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the outlet, earlier this month Trump announced an agreement with Russia to import diesel fuel to lower gasoline prices that had risen because of the US war with Iran, then lifted part of the sanctions against Russiathat were supposed to take effect, and shortly after that a US citizen was released from Russian custody — special envoy Steve Witkoff then called Putin a «humanitarian». Putin himself, who said Russia values cooperation «despite all political issues», emphasized that he is proud of creating an alternative to Starlink.