Kyiv reports Russian military use of Rassvet
Russia has begun employing its Rassvet satellite constellation, presented as a domestic answer to Starlink, for military communications over Ukrainian territory, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. The agency told Reuters that Moscow launched 32 Rassvet satellites in two batches this year, one in March and one in July. The Russian government said last month that more than 30 satellites had been placed in orbit.[S1][S2]
That total remains far below the more than 10,000 satellites in SpaceX's Starlink network. The military variant, Starshield, serves Ukraine but not Russia, and Moscow's lack of access to SpaceX systems has been a significant disadvantage. According to the Ukrainian agency, Russia intends further Rassvet launches before the end of 2026 to widen geographic coverage and move gradually toward a complete low-orbit communications system.[S1]
Agency spokesman Andrii Yusov said in the written statement that Russia is using Rassvet over Ukraine for military purposes. He also noted that the constellation cannot yet deliver uninterrupted coverage of Ukrainian territory, with connectivity available only intermittently as satellites pass overhead. Russia's defense ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.[S1]
Drone operations and the Starlink advantage
Starshield has provided Kyiv with a substantial edge in drone missions and battlefield communications. Russian forces had relied on grey-market Starlink terminals inside Ukraine until Kyiv persuaded SpaceX to switch them off earlier this year, one of several developments that shifted momentum toward Ukraine. Last month, however, Ukrainian commanders unexpectedly encountered speed limits on Starshield that hindered interception of Russian attack drones and forced some strike operations to be called off.[S1]
Kyiv gave no reason for the short-lived curbs, which came amid tensions with President Donald Trump's administration over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries and have now been removed. Although Russian advances along the front line have largely stalled this year, Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian cities and power facilities, fielding a newer class of jet-powered drones that are harder to bring down.[S1]
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Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned about Russian efforts to build a Starlink equivalent. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week sanctioned 10 companies tied to Rassvet's development, including Bureau 1440, which coordinates the state-backed project. Bureau 1440 has said it aims for a constellation exceeding 900 satellites by 2035 and did not immediately answer Reuters' questions about Rassvet.[S1]
Surveillance gains and countermeasures
The Ukrainian agency said Rassvet could give Russia two-way data exchange with unmanned aircraft over Ukraine, letting surveillance drones relay information in real time and allowing operators to redirect attack drones mid-flight instead of relying on a pre-set route. That capability could help drones respond to moving targets or avoid air defenses. Yusov said that over the longer term it could improve the effectiveness of strike and reconnaissance UAVs and complicate interception by electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems.[S1]
Mykola Zientsev, a security expert based in Kyiv, said there are indications Rassvet is already affecting the precision of Russian jet-powered drone strikes. In a recent report he wrote that Russia now has at least two high-quality satellite communications windows daily, each lasting more than an hour, which he described as sufficient to produce operational effects. The Ukrainian agency has published a list of 49 companies in Russia and Belarus it says are involved in the project.[S1]
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of the agency, said in an August interview with Ukrainian media that Russia was launching Rassvet far faster than originally planned and that Ukraine was already discussing countermeasures. Ukraine said in August that it had carried out a long-range missile strike on the Progress rocket and space center in Russia's Samara region, which produces rockets used to launch Rassvet satellites.[S1]
Denys Sienik, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Washington, has pressed the United States to sanction Rassvet-linked companies. He also told Reuters that Russia is developing the Starlink analogue with Chinese components. The US Treasury Department declined to comment on Ukraine's push for additional sanctions.[S1]
