President Zelenskyy asks Trump for help over 'Russian Starlink'
Photo: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (RBC-Ukraine collage)
US President Donald Trump may impose sanctions on Russian and Chinese companies involved in the creation of the Rassvet satellite system, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to the head of state, Moscow has accelerated the development of its own satellite network after Russian military forces lost access to the American Starlink system during the war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy confirmed that China is indeed helping Russia create a system similar to Starlink.
Moreover, Zelenskyy warned that Rassvet could be launched by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
"We know that China works on satellites, works on the possibility of helping Russia with a similar Starlink," the president emphasized.
The head of state added that he has repeatedly raised the issue of sanctions against structures involved in the development of this satellite network with Trump.
According to Zelenskyy, he last discussed this with the US president during their meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Earlier, Alexey Shelobkov, head of X Holding, the company working on the creation of the Rassvet system, reported on Russia's plans to launch the satellite system in 2027.
The first 16 satellites of the system were launched into low Earth orbit in March. In the future, the constellation is planned to be expanded to 900 units over several years.
For comparison, the Starlink network currently consists of more than 10,000 satellites in orbit.
We have also reported on how exactly Ukraine is trying to block this Russian project.
