Zelenskyy says he asked Trump 'several times' to sanction Russia's Starlink rival Rassvet
In a Financial Times interview published on Oct 3, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has repeatedly asked Donald Trump to sanction Russian and Chinese companies behind the Rassvet satellite network, including at their UN General Assembly meeting in New York last month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has asked US President Donald Trump “several times” to sanction Russian and Chinese companies involved in Russia’s Rassvet satellite network, including at their New York meeting last month on the UN General Assembly sidelines, in an Oct 3 Financial Times interview, TradersUnion reports.
Zelenskyy told the FT that Russia is accelerating Rassvet with Chinese support, after Elon Musk earlier this year blocked Russian forces from using SpaceX’s Starlink to guide drones striking Ukraine, and that the network could be operational by the end of this year or the start of next, TradersUnion reports. China’s foreign ministry, the Kremlin and the White House did not respond to the FT’s requests for comment.
Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, Denys Senik, said Kyiv will this week hand Washington and Congress a sanctions-target list under the new US law, with Rassvet component manufacturers among the priority targets, Pryamiy and Europe Says report. The main company developing Rassvet is already under US sanctions, but its component suppliers are not.
Rassvet is a low-Earth-orbit broadband network built by Russia’s Bureau 1440 as a domestic alternative to Starlink. Russia launched its first 16 satellites in March and a second batch in July, and plans 292 by 2027 and 924 by 2035, according to Europe Says. Kyiv fears a completed constellation would let Moscow strike Ukrainian targets with real-time data, and the Trump administration has until October 18 to decide which entities to sanction under the Sept 18 law, Europe Says reports.
Sources
- TradersUnion — “Ukraine seeks sanctions over Russia-China Starlink rival project” — https://tradersunion.com/news/financial-news/show/3639596-ukraine-sanctions-russia-china-starlink/
- Europe Says — “Ukraine urges US sanctions on suppliers to Russia’s Rassvet satellite network” — https://www.europesays.com/ukraine/50066/
- Pryamiy — “US sanctions against Russia: Ukraine to hand over new list of targets” — https://prm.ua/en/ukraine-asks-the-us-to-impose-sanctions-on-the-russian-analogue-of-starlink/
- DD India — “Ukraine urges US to sanction entities supporting Russia’s Starlink rival” — https://ddindia.co.in/2026/10/ukraine-urges-us-to-sanction-entities-supporting-russias-starlink-rival/
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