America First, but Putin is even firster

Ukraine has to specifically ask Washington to sanction the companies and individuals helping build Russia's satellite internet network before the system gives Moscow yet another military advantage. One would think that reining in a Russian competitor to American technology — one that, on top of everything, can be used in a war of aggression — would fit neatly into the "America First" agenda, and that the bombed country shouldn't have to come knocking separately for that. Yet alongside Trump's great-power self-glorification, it apparently takes an Ukrainian reminder even for such an obvious case of asserting one's own interests.

The network called Rassvet could give Russian forces their own satellite link for controlling long-range attack drones. Serhii Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian technology advisor, has warned that this would allow Russia to conduct real-time controlled drone strikes across the entire territory of Ukraine, while Ukrainians, because of Starlink's territorial restrictions, have no equivalent capability inside Russia. According to the developer, Bureau 1440, sixteen satellites were launched in March, with another batch following in July; commercial operation is planned for 2027.

Denisk Sydorenko, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Washington, is therefore pressing for further sanctions against those supporting the project, and is preparing to hand over detailed information to the US administration and Congress. The US Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters inquiry, but the AP clarified an important detail: the main company building the network is already under US sanctions, while several component manufacturers are not yet on the list. The task, then, is to close the gaps in the sanctions regime; under the new US law, the administration must decide on further measures by October 18.

And this is exactly where the constant chatter about American primacy becomes especially laughable: if Washington has already recognized that the main developer deserves sanctions, then monitoring and restricting its supplier network should be part of a consistent American response too, because a sanctions list isn't effective just because the central player's name is neatly on it while others can keep producing the components it needs to function. The seriousness of "America First" could be measured here by what obstacles the administration puts in the way of the Kremlin's new military capability. Ukraine has already shown where the work needs to be done; the world's loudest champion of great-power status should finally take action, because the damn baseball cap alone won't stop a single Russian drone.

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