Putin Praises Elon Musk as 'Genius' for SpaceX Satellite Network

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk as "a genius, really a genius" for deploying thousands of satellites in orbit, during a visit to an exhibition on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on Wednesday. Putin noted that Musk's SpaceX operates over 5,000 satellites in orbit, while Russia is still taking its first steps in developing its own satellite internet constellation. He emphasized the importance of avoiding interference in orbit and said Moscow maintains close contact with American partners, including Musk. The remarks come amid a persistent dispute between Ukraine and the United States over access to Starshield, a military-grade satellite network powered by Musk's SpaceX. Ukraine reported service problems earlier this month following a quarrel between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump over a US-Russia diesel agreement, with Ukraine claiming the outages have hampered its drone interception efforts and frontline logistics.