Ex-Google boss warns Ukraine over Russia’s ‘Starlink rival’

Rassvet could become “more or less unblockable” once fully deployed, Eric Schmidt has said Russia’s emerging Rassvet satellite network – often described as a “Starlink rival” – could provide Moscow’s military with sustainable communications and data to attack any target in Ukraine at will, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has warned.Speaking to The Economist last week, Schmidt noted that while Ukraine was initially seen as the main innovator in the conflict, Russia had largely closed that gap while pressing its advantage with far greater resources.Schmidt noted that one of these domains is Russia’s Rassvet satellite project, which he suggested was about a year from maturity. “Once that network is in place, it is more or less unblockable,” he warned, adding that this could let Russian forces “hunt anywhere” inside Ukraine. The ex-Google CEO also weighed in on the idea of granting Ukraine access to Starlink over Russia, which could allow Kiev to rely on Elon Musk’s satellites to target oil refineries and civilian infrastructure, calling it “really a political decision.”“It’s really a government decision. And the US government needs to grapple with this question,” he said.Developed by p...