Putin Praises Elon Musk as 'a Real Genius' for Satellite Network

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Elon Musk "a real genius" on Wednesday for deploying thousands of satellites in orbit, as Moscow seeks to develop its own satellite internet network for civilian and military use. Putin made the remarks while visiting an exhibition on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow, noting that Musk has over 5,000 units in orbit while Russia is "taking its first steps." He added that Moscow maintains close contact with American partners, including Musk, to avoid orbital interference. The comments come amid a dispute between Ukraine and the United States over access to Starshield, a military-grade satellite network powered by Musk's SpaceX. Ukraine reported service disruptions earlier this month following a quarrel between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump, with Kyiv saying the outages have hampered drone interception and frontline logistics.