Putin hails Elon Musk as ‘truly a genius’

On October 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed SpaceX founder Elon Musk as a "genius" while Ukraine was recovering from a recent throttling of Starshield operations. The Russian leader made the remark during an exhibition visit at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, praising Musk's satellite network as Russia raced to develop its own answer to Starlink.

Despite political tensions, Putin emphasized that Moscow maintains close contact with U.S. partners, including Musk, on space matters. Russia's Roscosmos and other companies were also collaborating in this endeavor. The statement followed Ukraine's restoration of full-speed operations for commercial Starlink terminals and the militarized Starshield system, which had been restricted since October 14.

The speed cap on Starshield terminals in Ukraine had limited the effectiveness of Ukrainian drone interceptors in downing Russian jet-powered drones. While Musk and the U.S. administration did not take credit for the throttle, Musk had accused Ukraine of violating Starlink terms of service by using commercial terminals for offensive drone strikes.

Ukraine denied the allegations, stating it only utilized Starshield systems to support combat operations against Russian forces within Ukrainian territory. Zelensky confirmed on October 24 that both Starlink and Starshield were functioning at full capacity once again.