Putin called Musk a 'genius' and claimed close contact with him amid Starlink outages in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly praised Elon Musk, calling him a 'genius,' and said Moscow maintains close contact with the American billionaire. The statement was made on Wednesday, October 28, at an exhibition during the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow.

'Elon Musk is a genius, a true genius,' Putin said, noting the scale of SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation. 'How many devices does he have in orbit? More than 5,000. And we are only taking the first steps,' he added.

Putin also stated that Russia remains in direct contact with American partners. According to him, 'we are in close contact with our American partners, including Mr. Musk,' because it is extremely important in orbit not to interfere with each other.

Russia is developing its own satellite internet constellation called 'Rassvyet' for civilian and military purposes. Russia's Minister of Digital Development Maxut Shadayev reported that more than 30 satellites have been launched as part of this project to date.

Putin's remarks came against the backdrop of reports about disruptions to Starlink and Starshield services used by Ukrainian military forces for communications, drone control, and logistics along the front line. Ukrainian officials stated that October outages hampered the interception of Russian drones and forced the postponement of several military operations. According to the Ukrainian side, Starlink and Starshield service was restored by the weekend. Neither Musk nor American authorities have acknowledged responsibility for the previously imposed restrictions.