A senior official from Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned that Western commercial satellites could become “legitimate” targets for Moscow if they were involved in the war in Ukraine.
Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for non-proliferation and arms control, told the United Nations on October 26th that the use of Western satellites to aid the Ukrainian war effort was “an extremely dangerous trend.”
“Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike,” Vorontsov told the United Nations First Committee, adding that the West’s use of such satellites to support Ukraine was “provocative.”
“We are talking about the involvement of components of civilian space infrastructure, including commercial, by the United States and its allies in armed conflicts,” Vorontsov was quoted as telling the committee, without naming any specific satellite firms.
White House spokesman John Kirby said publicly available information shows Russia has been trying to pursue anti-satellite technologies. Kirby told reporters at a briefing that any targeting of U.S. infrastructure will be met with a response but did not specify what the response would be.
Russia has a significant offensive space capability and so do the United States and China. Last , Russia launched an anti-satellite missile to destroy one of its own decommissioned satellites.
