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Putin praises Musk as 'real genius' after satellite talks in Moscow

bbc.co.uk — October 28, 2026 at 09:01 PM UTC

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Elon Musk a "real genius" on Wednesday, revealing the two maintain "close" contact regarding satellite technology. The remarks were made during the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow. Putin said contact with Musk is important to ensure Russia's Rassvet satellite internet project and Musk's Starlink do not "interfere with each other in orbit." Starlink has launched roughly 13,000 satellites, while Rassvet has only a couple of dozen in orbit, according to trackers. The comments come as US-Russia relations appear to be warming, nearly five years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine has relied on Starlink, though its military recently suffered connectivity problems that Musk admitted SpaceX caused intentionally.

With a significance score of 5.5, this news ranks in the top 0.9% of today's 32776 analyzed articles.

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Most significant articles on this story:

[5.5]

Putin praises Musk as 'real genius' after satellite talks in Moscow (bbc.co.uk)

12h

[5.3]

Putin praises Musk's 'genius' as Russia builds its own Starlink rival (theguardian.com)

14h

[5.1]

Starlink outage in Ukraine exposes Europe's dependence on US satellites (rbc.ua)

1d 8h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[5.1]

Putin says Russia in 'close contact' with Musk on satellite networks (thehill.com)

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[5.1]

Europe seeks to end reliance on US satellites after Starlink disruption (nrc.nl)

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[5.1]

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1d 7h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[5.1]

Europe seeks non-Musk satellite options after Starlink disruptions in Ukraine (axios.com)

23h

[5.0]

Putin praises Musk as genius while Russia builds rival satellite network (independent.co.uk)

11h

[4.9]

Putin calls Musk 'truly a genius' as Russia builds satellite network (ctvnews.ca)

11h

[4.8]

Putin Praises Elon Musk as 'Genius' Over Starlink System (diepresse.com)

<1h

Link Source (German)

[4.7]

Putin Praises Musk as 'True Genius' After Starlink Disruptions in Ukraine (clubic.com)

<1h

Link Source (French)

[4.7]

Putin Praises Elon Musk as 'a Real Genius' for Satellite Network (bluewin.ch)

9h

Link Source (French)

[4.6]

Putin calls Musk a genius as Russia launches rival satellite internet (channelnewsasia.com)

11h

[4.5]

Putin Praises Musk's Satellite Network as Russia Builds Its Own Starlink Rival (ndtv.com)

3h

[4.5]

Putin calls Musk a 'genius' as Russia builds Starlink rival after Ukraine slowdown (independent.co.uk)

12h

[4.4]

Putin calls Musk a 'real genius' for satellite network as Russia builds its own (lefigaro.fr)

5h

Link Source (French)

[4.3]

Putin calls Musk a 'genius' as Russia builds its own satellite internet (oglobo.globo.com)

3h

Link Source (Portuguese)

[4.3]

Putin praises Musk as Russia builds Starlink rival with 30 satellites (firstpost.com)

16h

[4.3]

Putin praises Musk as 'genius' while promoting Russia's Starlink rival (adevarul.ro)

15h

Link Source (Romanian)

[4.1]

Putin calls Musk a genius as Russia launches rival satellite internet system (thestar.com.my)

16h

[4.1]

SpaceX accused of blocking NATO satellite during Russian attack (techno.nv.ua)

1d 16h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[4.0]

Ukraine's Growing Starlink Dependence Creates Unavoidable Vulnerability (unian.ua)

1d 19h

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[3.9]

Europe seeks to cut US tech reliance after Starlink limits in Ukraine (obozrevatel.com)

1d 7h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[3.9]

Putin Praises Elon Musk as 'Genius' for SpaceX Satellite Network (20minutes.fr)

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[3.9]

Musk accuses Ukraine of using Starlink in drone attacks; Kyiv denies (neoteo.com)

22h

Link Source (Spanish)

[3.9]

Starlink outage pushes Europe toward satellite independence (ua.korrespondent.net)

1d 7h

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[3.7]

Pentagon declines to investigate Starlink outages in Ukraine (dw.com)

2h

Link Source (Russian)

[3.7]

Starlink outage pushes Europe toward tech independence from US (ua.korrespondent.net)

1d 7h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[3.7]

Pentagon declines probe into Starlink slowdowns affecting Ukraine (lapresse.ca)

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Link Source (French)

[3.6]

Photos show Ukraine's Starlink throttled during deadly Kharkiv strike (cbsnews.com)

1d 18h

[3.6]

Musk Says Ukraine Broke Starlink Terms Before Access Loss (gizmodo.com)

1d 11h

[3.5]

Pentagon watchdog declines probe into Starlink slowdowns in Ukraine (clickondetroit.com)

9h

[3.5]

Pentagon watchdog declines to probe Starlink slowdowns in Ukraine (dailycamera.com)

9h

[3.4]

Pentagon Watchdog Declines Probe Into Starlink Slowdowns in Ukraine (usnews.com)

9h

[3.2]

Putin claims close cooperation with Musk on satellite operations (ua.korrespondent.net)

17h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[3.1]

Putin Praises Musk's Satellite Network, Cites Russia's Space Ambitions at Africa Summit (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

8h

[3.1]

Putin calls Musk a 'real genius' after Starlink outage hits Ukraine (dailystar.co.uk)

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[3.1]

Pentagon watchdog declines to probe Starlink slowdowns in Ukraine (bostonherald.com)

9h

[3.0]

Pentagon declines to investigate Starlink and Starshield outages in Ukraine (nv.ua)

5h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[3.0]

Pentagon watchdog declines to probe Starlink limits for Ukraine (pravda.com.ua)

6h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[3.0]

Pentagon declines to probe Starlink restrictions in Ukraine (noticiasaominuto.com)

1h

Link Source (Portuguese)

[2.8]

Zelensky: Starshield outage halted 2,000 interceptor drones (korrespondent.net)

20h

Link Source (Russian)

[2.8]

US restores Starlink for Ukraine after pressure from both parties (unian.net)

1d 21h

Link Source (Russian)

[2.8]

Pentagon declines Senate request to investigate Starlink restrictions in Ukraine (rbc.ua)

6h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[2.5]

Pentagon declines to investigate Starlink limits in Ukraine, senators concerned (obozrevatel.com)

2h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[2.4]

Pentagon declines to investigate Starlink restrictions in Ukraine (unian.ua)

4h

Link Source (Ukrainian)

[2.1]

Pentagon declines to investigate Starlink outages in Ukraine (ua.korrespondent.net)

6h

Link Source (Ukrainian)