Putin Praises Musk's Satellite Network as Russia Builds Its Own Starlink Rival

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk as "truly a genius" for deploying over 5,000 satellites in orbit, while acknowledging Russia is only taking its first steps in developing its own satellite internet network. The comments came during a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow. Putin stated Russia is in close contact with American partners, including Musk, emphasizing the importance of avoiding orbital interference. His remarks follow Ukraine reporting problems with Starshield, a military-grade SpaceX network, amid a dispute between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump over a US-Russia diesel deal. Both Trump and Musk denied responsibility for the outages, though Musk accused Ukraine of misusing Starlink for military purposes. Ukraine claims the disruptions have hindered its drone interception efforts and slowed frontline logistics as the conflict enters its fifth year.