Putin praises Elon Musk's satellite achievements

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Elon Musk a "genius" for launching thousands of satellites into orbit, highlighting SpaceX's efforts during a visit to an exhibition at the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow. Putin noted that SpaceX has launched over 5,000 satellites, while Russia is only starting its own satellite internet project.

Russia seeks cooperation to avoid orbital conflicts

Putin mentioned that Moscow is in close communication with American partners, including Musk, to prevent interference in space. This comes as both countries increasingly rely on satellite technology for military and civilian purposes.

Ukraine faces challenges with Starshield network

The comments come amid a dispute between Ukraine and the United States over Starshield, a military-grade satellite network operated by SpaceX. Ukraine has reported difficulties accessing Starshield earlier this month, which has affected its military operations.

Dispute linked to diplomatic tensions

The issue arises after a disagreement between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump over an American-Russian diesel agreement. Both the White House and Musk denied responsibility for the outages, though Musk later suggested Ukraine might be misusing Starlink for military purposes.

Ukraine claims outages harm military operations

Ukraine says the Starshield outages have hindered its ability to intercept Russian drones and slowed logistics on the front line. The conflict, now in its fifth year, has seen increasing reliance on satellite technology for strategic advantages.