Zelensky Warns China Is Helping Russia Develop Starlink Rival

President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times in an interview published on Oct. 3 that Beijing was helping Moscow build Rassvet, Russia’s version of SpaceX’s Starlink.

“We know that China works on satellites, works on the possibility of helping Russia with a system similar to Starlink,” he said, adding that “they are getting closer, and they are passing it on to Russia.”

What is the threat from Rassvet?

The system is being built by Moscow’s “Bureau 1440” and is designed to operate at an orbit height of around 800 kilometers (500 miles). It will include laser links between satellites and a ground based 5G network.

Following initial launches in July and August, milbloggers said the system was suffering from widescale technical difficulties. In September, Bureau 1440 said it was working on improved systems which Intellinews said was likely being done using Chinese assistance.

Zelensky said that Rassvet could be operational by early 2027, warning US President Donald Trump several times. Most recently, during September’s UN General Assembly in New York, Zelensky called for sanctions to be imposed on Russian and Chinese companies involved in its development.

Intellinews also reported that the satellite system could be part of the military technical cooperation as part of the “CRINK alliance” – an informal grouping between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. According to them, CRINK is an attempt to keep ahead of Western weapons systems development.

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The company said the goal is to address compatibility issues across the front line.

The report suggested that such cooperation could see the fusion between Moscow’s missiles, drones, and other materials with China’s electronics capability.

In January 2023, Yury Borisov, then head of Roscosmos, said Russia had agreed to buy electronic components for rocket and space technology from China after Western sanctions prevented the import of critical supplies, saying that electronics was Russia’s “Achilles’ heel,” as per Interfax.

According to Reuters on Oct. 1, Denys Sienik, deputy chief of mission at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, said that Russia was rapidly expanding the Rassvet satellite network, aiming to start operations in 2027, which would pose grave risks to Ukraine.

“They will be able ​to target Ukrainian targets in real time anywhere on our territory,” Sienik said.

Rassvet has currently deployed a relatively small number of satellites compared with the thousands that make up the Starlink constellation. Its capabilities over Ukraine were erratic as connectivity was dependent on the satellite being overhead. Its aim was to establish sufficient numbers that would allow continuous coverage of Russia’s military communications.

Satellite communications are critical

The war in Ukraine has shown that reliable satellite communications are an indispensable component of modern warfare to support command networks, reconnaissance, logistics, and operation of unmanned weapons systems.

Starlink has provided connectivity in areas where conventional communications infrastructure has been destroyed or disrupted – a facility of which was deprived in February 2026 when Elon Musk implemented a “whitelist” system that deactivated terminals not registered and verified by Ukrainian authorities.

The US has also limited Ukrainian access to Starlink for deep strikes into Russia. Meanwhile, China’s defense sector is said to be developing countermeasures to Starlink that could include laser weapons in order to attack and destroy satellites.

Previously on X, Anton Gerashchenko said that 2027 could see Rassvet move from experimental to fully operational, adding that the threat could extend to factories, airfields, ports, and energy sites in Europe where air defense systems would be unable to repel against Russian long-range drone swarms.