Now, a new development threatens to alter the balance of this technological contest. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that China is providing support to help Russia develop its own satellite internet constellation, known as Rassvet. In an interview, Zelensky stated that Beijing is working on satellites and the possibility of helping Russia with a system similar to Starlink. “They are getting closer, and they are passing it on to Russia,” he said, adding that such a network could grant Moscow a form of dominance in secure military communications that Western operators cannot switch off.
Rassvet is being built by Moscow’s Bureau 1440 and is designed to operate at an orbit height of approximately 800 kilometers. The system is intended to include laser links between satellites and a ground-based 5G network. While the project is still in its developmental stages, its strategic significance is clear. A functional constellation would allow Russian forces to maintain continuous coverage for drone operations and command-and-control links, reducing their vulnerability to the disruptions that have affected their use of foreign commercial networks.
However, the system’s current capabilities remain limited. Initial launches took place in July and August, but military analysts and observers have noted that the network is suffering from widespread technical difficulties. At present, Russian connectivity over Ukraine is intermittent, dependent on the specific satellites passing overhead. To offer a service comparable to Starlink, which operates a constellation numbering in the thousands, Russia needs to deploy a significantly larger number of satellites. Bureau 1440 launched its first 16 working satellites in March and reportedly needs more than 250 before it can offer reliable service. The company has pointed to a 2027 commercial launch date, a timeline it has already pushed back once.
Ukrainian officials believe that Chinese technical assistance is accelerating this process. Zelensky has stated that the system could be operational by early 2027, a timeline more ambitious than the one currently cited by the Russian developer. The involvement of China is not merely technical; it is also geopolitical. The development of Rassvet is viewed as part of a broader military-technical cooperation framework within an informal grouping involving China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. This collaboration is seen as an attempt to keep pace with, or surpass, Western weapons systems development, including the development of countermeasures such as laser weapons and attack satellites designed to counter Starlink itself.
Recognizing the strategic threat, Zelensky has raised the issue directly with U.S. President Donald Trump, including during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He has called for sanctions to be imposed on both Russian and Chinese companies involved in the development of Rassvet. The request stems from the understanding that a Russian-controlled satellite network would remove a key lever of pressure; currently, the U.S. has limited Ukraine’s access to Starlink for strikes deeper into Russian territory and has threatened wider cutoffs. A sovereign Russian network would insulate its military operations from such external restrictions.
Neither the White House nor SpaceX has publicly commented on the specific request for sanctions. The situation highlights a growing uncertainty in the conflict’s technological landscape. While Rassvet is currently far behind Starlink in scale and reliability, the potential for Chinese support to bridge that gap represents a significant shift. For Ukrainian forces, the immediate priority remains securing their own communications, but the long-term challenge is preventing the establishment of a parallel, secure Russian network that could sustain prolonged drone warfare without reliance on compromised or restricted commercial infrastructure. The next few months will be critical in determining whether technical hurdles continue to delay Rassvet or if external support enables a rapid expansion of the constellation.
