Karina Bovsunovskaya09:04, 03.10.26

According to experts, the Rassvet system could significantly escalate Russia’s sabotage campaign against Ukraine’s European allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions against Russian and Chinese companies that, according to the Ukrainian leader, are involved in developing a satellite network competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink, according to the Financial Times .

The publication recalled that earlier this year, Musk blocked access for Russian occupiers after they began using Starlink to guide drones attacking Ukraine. According to Zelenskyy, this forced Russia to accelerate plans to build its own satellite network, Rassvet, with Chinese assistance.

He told the FT that China is collaborating with Russia on the technology and that Rassvet could be operational “by the end of this year or early next.”

“We know that China is working on satellites, working on the possibility of helping Russia create an analogue of Starlink,” Zelensky noted.

The head of state warned that such a capability would allow the Kremlin to improve the accuracy of airstrikes as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin intensifies his air campaign against Ukraine in an attempt to force it into submission this winter.

Zelenskyy said he had asked Trump “several times” for his administration to impose sanctions on the organizations involved, including last month in New York when he met with the US president on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

(C)UNIAN 2026