Politics

Putin calls Musk 'genius' as Ukraine recovers from Starshield throttling

• 2 min read
Putin calls Musk 'genius' as Ukraine recovers from Starshield throttling
Elon Musk attends a state banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026 in Beijing, China. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 28 praised SpaceX founder Elon Musk as a "genius" and said Moscow is in close contact with the U.S. on space matters, less than a week after Starlink and Starshield operations were restored in Ukraine.

"I want to point out that Elon Musk is a genius, a real genius," said Putin during an exhibition visit at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, praising the billionaire's vast satellite network as Russia scrambles to develop its own answer to Starlink.

The Russian leader added that "despite all political issues," Moscow maintains contact with the "U.S. partners, including Mr. Musk" on space matters. "Our Roscosmos and other companies are also working together," added Putin.

The statement comes days after Kyiv restored its ability to operate commercial Starlink terminals and their militarized version, Starshield, at full speed following an unexpected restriction on the systems that began on Oct. 14.

The speed of Starshield terminals in Ukraine was temporarily capped at 160 kilometers per hour, hampering Ukrainian drone interceptors' ability to down Russian jet-powered drones.

Neither Musk nor U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has claimed responsibility for the Starshield throttle, with either side pointing fingers at the other.

However, Musk publicly accused Ukraine of violating terms of service by using commercial Starlink terminals to carry out offensive drone strikes, adding that this "loophole" has been removed.

Ukraine rejected Musk's accusations, saying it uses Starshield systems only to support combat operations against Russian forces within Ukrainian territory. Kyiv also said that commercial Starlink services do not operate inside Russia and therefore cannot be used to strike Russian territory.

Zelensky confirmed on Oct. 24 that both Starlink and Starshield were again working at full speed.

"Of course, civilians died while Starlink/Starshield were switched off," he said on Oct. 27.

Meanwhile, Russia has continued daily attacks on Ukraine, launching over 100 ballistic missiles against Kyiv in the past two weeks alone.

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Yevgeniya Doluda

Yevgeniya Doluda is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, politics, and history from City St. George’s University of London. Yevgeniya previously worked and volunteered with non-profit organizations in Europe and had her work published in RTL. In addition to Ukrainian, she also speaks Spanish and French.

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