Moscow says U.S. satellites are legitimate targets in Ukraine war

Russia is threatening to attack U.S. commercial satellites if they continue to be used to share information with Kiev regarding the war in Ukraine.

“It is a dangerous move for the U.S. to use commercial satellites for military conflicts, Russian Foreign Ministry Representative,Mr Konstantin Vorontsov said.

“The quasi-civilian infrastructure can become a legitimate target of a counter-attack,” he added.

According to him, the West is putting civilian space travel at risk, as well as social and economic projects on Earth.

Satellite images play an important role in the war in Ukraine.

Several Western nations are providing Kiev with satellite data for defence purposes.

Since Russia’s satellite network is less extensive, Ukraine has a slight intelligence advantage in this area.

Russia is certainly capable of striking satellites in space.

In November, 2021, the country shot down one of its own discarded satellites with a laser weapon, causing international outrage.

The U.S. criticised the move as “reckless sabre-rattling.”

Russia dismissed the accusations as hypocrisy at the time, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed the U.S. itself was pursuing an arms race in space.