Zelenskyy asked Trump to sanction Russian and Chinese companies over Starlink rival
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to impose sanctions on Russian and Chinese companies involved in building the Rassvet satellite network, a potential rival to Starlink, in an interview with the Financial Times on Oct. 3.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged American President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russian and Chinese companies developing the Rassvet satellite network, a potential competitor to Starlink, according to a Financial Times interview on October 3. Russia has been accelerating its work on the satellite network with Chinese assistance following the use of SpaceX's Starlink by Russian forces in military operations, Zelenskyy stated.
The Ukrainian leader said he has requested sanctions from Trump multiple times, most recently during a New York meeting at the U.N. General Assembly. Ukraine's deputy head of mission in Washington, Denys Senyk, announced on October 1 that the nation is seeking sanctions against Russian entities involved in constructing the Rassvet network.
On July 20, the Russian firm Bureau 1440 launched a second batch of satellites for the Rassvet network from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Presidential adviser Serhii Flash Beskrestnov confirmed that Russia conducted both launches, in March and July, from the Plesetsk site. It is estimated that Russia requires 12 to 15 Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket launches, each capable of deploying 20 satellites, to establish its primary constellation.
The progress of Russia's satellite network as a potential threat to Ukraine was highlighted by satellite communications expert Volodymyr Stepanets, who reported that Rassvet provides communication windows over Ukraine at least twice daily, each lasting over an hour.
Written by urgent.news from New Voice of Ukraine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
