Russia is building its Starlink-style network faster than expected and plans to have nearly 300 satellites in orbit by next year, Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
The agency notes that the Starlink network, which operates in Ukraine but not in Russia, gives Kiev a serious advantage in drone operations and battlefield communications.
The Russian armed forces used illegally purchased Starlink terminals in Ukraine until Kiev successfully lobbied for their exclusion from the SpaceX company earlier this year.
In an interview with the Ukrainian media outlet RBC Ukraine, Skibitsky said that Russia currently has 16 satellites in its Rassvet system.
"They have already started building it much faster than originally planned," Skibitsky said.
The Ukrainian representative explained that Russia plans to create a system of 292 satellites by next year and 924 by 2035.
"Once Russia deploys all these satellites, the system will act like Starlink. Discussions are already underway on what actions to take against it," he added.
Russia is striking Ukraine with hypersonic missiles. Skibitsky said that Moscow had already met its annual production targets for the "Zircon" and "Onyx" missiles in the first seven months of this year, and that it had exceeded those targets by 10 to 20%.
He also said that Russia had a stockpile of about 130 "Iskander-M" hypersonic missiles, with 65 produced last month.