Russian President Vladimir Putin praised tech billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday, likening him to Sergei Korolev, the iconic Soviet rocket engineer credited with launching the space age.
Speaking to students during a visit to Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Putin described Musk as a rare visionary whose passion for space exploration, particularly Mars, sets him apart.
“There’s a man in the United States — Musk — who, you could say, is obsessed with Mars,” Putin remarked. “People like that are rare in history. They are driven by a singular idea.”
Putin went on to say that although such ambitions might seem far-fetched now, history has shown that extraordinary visions often become reality — just as Korolev’s once did.
Korolev, often called the father of the Soviet space program, was behind groundbreaking missions like the launch of Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, and Vostok 1, which carried Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, in 1961.
Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of SpaceX, has become a key player in the U.S. space program, with his company launching missions for NASA and operating the Starlink satellite network.
Though admired by some in Russia, Musk has also drawn criticism over his shifting positions on the Ukraine conflict.
In recent months, he has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of pursuing a “forever war” and claimed Kyiv has gone “too far” amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
