Putin Calls Elon Musk 'a Real Genius' and Says They're in 'Close Contact.' Ukraine Would Like a Word

At a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on Wednesday, Vladimir Putin said of Elon Musk, "He's a genius, a real genius," and said Russia is "in close contact with our American partners, including Mr. Musk," the BBC reports. The stated reason: making sure Russia's satellite internet project, Rassvet, and Starlink don't "interfere with each other in orbit."

For scale: Starlink has launched about 13,000 satellites, according to the company. Rassvet has a couple of dozen in orbit, per online trackers. The Russian Embassy in South Africa called it "Russia's Starlink alternative." Ambitious.

Here's the part that doesn't sit right. Ukraine has leaned on Starlink to hold off Russian forces. Last week its military suddenly lost connectivity, something the BBC says Musk has admitted SpaceX did intentionally. A week later Putin is calling him a genius. SpaceX didn't respond to the BBC.

Dez's take: Maybe it's just orbital traffic control. But when the guy whose army you're fighting is praising the guy who controls your internet, people will ask what "close contact" means.

What we still don't know: what exactly Musk and the Kremlin talk about, and why Ukraine's Starlink went down.