Russian forces are using their new Rassvet satellite network for military communications over Ukraine to sharpen drone strikes, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
Officials from Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, known as GUR, told Reuters that Moscow wants to make its strike drones more accurate and harder to suppress. The network is positioned as Russia's domestic version of Starlink.
According to GUR, Russia launched 32 Rassvet satellites into space this year in two batches, in March and July 2026. As of November 3, 30 satellites from those two production batches remained in orbit.
Russian engineers placed 26 of those satellites into an intermediate orbit at an altitude of approximately 508 kilometres, with 13 from each batch. Earlier reports indicated that Russia had stabilized 13 of the 16 satellites launched in the second batch of the Rassvet-3 system at that height.
In-flight drone guidance
In a statement, GUR said the Rassvet network can provide Russia with two-way data transmission with unmanned aerial vehicles operating over Ukraine. Reconnaissance drones can relay data in real time, while pilots can adjust the flight paths of strike drones while airborne.
This reduces reliance on pre-programmed routes, allowing drones to adapt to shifting targets and bypass air defence systems. Andriy Yusov, a GUR representative, said that in the long term, the system could boost drone effectiveness and make them harder to intercept with electronic warfare and signals intelligence systems.
Electronic warfare has become a central battleground in the conflict, with both militaries deploying jamming systems to sever radio control links and scramble satellite navigation signals to bring down drones.
Comparison with Starlink
GUR noted that Russia's constellation is a tiny fraction of the Starlink network, which operates more than 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. Access to Starlink, built by Elon Musk's American aerospace company SpaceX, has aided Kyiv significantly during the war, alongside its military counterpart, Starshield.
Yusov said Russia's satellite group is currently insufficient to provide uninterrupted coverage across Ukraine, with communications cutting out as satellites pass over. Moscow plans further launches before the end of 2026 to expand geographic reach and gradually build a full low Earth orbit communications network.
