Putin praises Musk's 'genius' as Russia builds its own Starlink rival

Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk as a "genius" and confirmed contact with him as Russia develops its own satellite communications system, Rassvet, for military use against Ukraine. The remarks came at a Moscow summit with African leaders. Putin compared Musk's Starlink network, with an estimated 10,000 active satellites, to Russia's fledgling system of about 26 working satellites. The praise follows a mid-October restriction of Starlink's military version, Starshield, which hampered Ukrainian drone operations before services were restored. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Starlink operations were restored last week, though tensions remain ahead of US midterm elections. He hopes for trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi in November, as Britain pledged £10bn in aid and the Netherlands committed €1.7bn in support.