Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia is developing its own Starlink "together with the Chinese"

During a Saturday press conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia, assisted by China, had developed its own version of the space-based internet service Starlink, which is used for military communications, and expected it to begin operating by December. He said Ukraine was working with a European country on a similar project rather than simply waiting to see what Moscow and Beijing do. The announcement came during a wider briefing in which Zelensky dismissed a former defense minister’s request to hold elections during wartime, warned of a $27bn gap in Ukraine’s 2026 defense funding, and called Patriot systems vital for shooting down Russian ballistic missiles. The update matters because control of battlefield communications is critical to the war.