The launch of Russia's Rassvet satellite communications system will pose the next major challenge for Ukraine, as deploying 200–250 satellites would allow Russian forces to establish coverage across the entire country and remotely control weapons systems.
Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, a freelance adviser to the President of Ukraine, made the statement during a briefing.
"Rassvet is our next challenge. We understand what it will mean. I am raising the alarm as much as I can because Russia could launch this project very quickly. They already have around 40 satellites. They currently have problems with their orbits, but they already have windows that allow them to operate over Ukraine for 40 minutes to an hour. At the moment, this is not particularly useful to them. Why? Because, for example, if they wanted to carry out an attack using remotely controlled Shahed drones, they would have to calculate the drone's flight so that it would be in a particular area during a 30-minute coverage window. That is very difficult. They are waiting until they have built a satellite network. They need approximately 200–250 satellites to provide coverage across the entire territory of Ukraine," Beskrestnov explained.
He noted that Russia is capable of circumventing sanctions to obtain the necessary components and manufacture this relatively small number of satellites.
According to Beskrestnov, the system would enable Russia to establish satellite coverage across Ukraine, allowing it to control missiles and Shahed drones remotely.
"This would give them the ability to control missiles and Shahed drones online across the entire territory of Ukraine. Navigation would also be integrated into the system. And that is a problem. We are now trying to explain to the world that this is not just Ukraine's problem. It is a problem for everyone — for Europe and the United States. Because those same mysterious UAVs that occasionally appear over different parts of Europe will be flying with the new Rassvet control system. This is a serious challenge," Flash emphasised.
Asked how Ukraine was responding to these developments, Beskrestnov said:
"We are working on it, but we need a great deal of time and substantial investment."
Despite Ukraine's efforts, he stressed that Russia remains a major space power, possessing numerous space launch facilities and control centres that Ukraine cannot strike on a sufficiently large scale.
Beskrestnov believes that one possible solution to the threat posed by Russian satellites would be the development of powerful electronic warfare capabilities.
Rassvet is a Russian low-Earth-orbit satellite communications and broadband internet system being developed by Bureau 1440, a company belonging to ICS Holding. It is frequently described as Russia's equivalent of SpaceX's American Starlink system.
