Putin calls Musk 'truly a genius' as Russia builds satellite network

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk as "truly a genius" on Wednesday for deploying over 5,000 satellites into orbit, while Russia works to build its own satellite internet network. The comments came during a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow. Putin noted Russia is "taking our first steps" in satellite deployment and said Moscow is in close contact with American partners, including Musk, to avoid orbital interference. The remarks follow Ukraine reporting Starshield outages this month after a dispute between President Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump over a diesel deal. Both Trump and Musk denied responsibility for the outages, though Musk accused Ukraine of misusing Starlink for military purposes. Ukraine says the disruptions have hindered drone interception and slowed frontline logistics as the conflict enters its fifth year.