Russia's Security Council on Friday called for an urgent expansion of the country's homegrown satellite internet network, warning that Elon Musk's Starlink system could be used to destabilise society and politics in unspecified sovereign states.
The push to accelerate the development of Rassvet, Russia's answer to Starlink, comes as Moscow is already using the nascent network for military communications in Ukraine.
Ukraine's military intelligence directorate (GUR) told Reuters that Russia was using Rassvet to support military communications and improve the accuracy of its strike drones while making them harder to jam. However, the network's coverage remains limited, with communications available only intermittently as satellites pass over relevant areas.
Russia has launched 32 Rassvet satellites into orbit so far this year in two batches, in March and July, according to GUR. The Russian government had said last month that it had launched more than 30 satellites as part of the low-Earth orbit network.
"The constellation is currently insufficient to provide uninterrupted coverage of Ukrainian territory: communication is available intermittently when the satellites pass over the relevant areas," GUR spokesman Andrii Yusov…