Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed tech billionaire Elon Musk as an “outstanding person” and businessman whose SpaceX company has become a key player in the space transportation industry.
Putin’s public praise of Musk on Tuesday comes days after the South African-born and United States-based entrepreneur said he refused a Ukrainian request last year to activate his Starlink satellite communication network in the Russian-annexed Crimean port city of Sevastopol to aid an attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet, saying he feared complicity in a “major” act of war.
