Russia is already using its new satellite network "Rassvet," dubbed its version of Starlink, for military communications over Ukraine, seeking to make its attack drones more accurate and harder to jam, Ukrainian military intelligence told Reuters, reports UNN.
Details
According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR), Russia has put 32 "Rassvet" satellites into orbit since the beginning of this year in two batches, in March and July. The Russian government said last month that Russia had launched more than 30 satellites.
This is only a small fraction compared with the more than 10,000 satellites in the Starlink network operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, whose military version—Starshield—is operating in Ukraine but not in Russia.
Moscow plans further launches of "Rassvet" rockets through the end of 2026 to expand the network's geographic coverage, gradually bringing it closer to a fully operational low-Earth-orbit satellite communications system, according to a written statement from the HUR.
Russia is using the "Rassvet" satellite system over Ukrainian territory for military purposes
"At present, the constellation is insufficient to provide uninterrupted coverage of Ukraine: communications are available intermittently when satellites pass over the relevant areas," the statement said.
Russia's Ministry of Defence, as stated, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia's Scientific and Expert Council warned on Friday of the risks posed by Starlink and called for the faster deployment of the "Rassvet" system.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly expressed concern about Russia's attempts to build its own version of SpaceX's network. Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on 10 companies involved in the development of "Rassvet," including "Bureau 1440," the coordinator of the state project.
"Bureau 1440" said it plans to create a constellation of more than 900 satellites by 2035. The company did not immediately respond to Reuters' questions about "Rassvet."
The HUR statement said that "Rassvet" could provide Russia with two-way data exchange with its unmanned aerial vehicles over Ukraine, allowing reconnaissance drones to transmit data in real time and pilots to adjust the flight path of attack drones during flight, reducing reliance on a pre-programmed flight trajectory.
This could allow drones to adapt to changes in the target's location or evade air-defence systems.
"In the long term, this could increase the effectiveness of attack and reconnaissance UAVs and make them more difficult to intercept using electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems," Yusov said.
Mykola Zentsev, a security expert, said there were some indications that "Rassvet" was already affecting the accuracy of Russia's jet-powered drones' strikes.
"In practice, Russia already has at least two windows of high-quality satellite communications every day, each lasting more than an hour," he wrote in a recent report. "That is enough to have operational consequences."
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of the HUR, said in an interview with Ukrainian media in August that Russia was deploying the "Rassvet" system much faster than originally planned, and that Ukraine was already discussing ways to counter it.
As the publication points out, 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 the rockets used to launch "Rassvet" satellites.
Denys Senik, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Washington, called on the United States to impose its own sanctions on "Rassvet" companies. He also told Reuters that Russia was developing a Starlink analogue using Chinese components. The U.S. Treasury Department did not comment on Ukraine's push for further sanctions.