3Commercial satellites from the United States and its allies could become legal targets for Russia if they took part in the conflict in Ukraine, according to a senior member of the Russian foreign ministry.
Along with the United States and China, Russia, which put the first man in space in 1961 and launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into space in 1957, has a sizable offensive space capability. Russia fired an anti-satellite missile into space in 2021 to take out one of its own satellites.
According to Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy head of the Russian foreign ministry’s non-proliferation and arms control department, the United States and its allies are attempting to establish Western domination through space.
Reading from notes, Vorontsov referred to the employment of Western satellites to support the Ukrainian military campaign as ‘an exceedingly dangerous trend.’
The use of such satellites by the West to support Ukraine was ‘provocative,’ added Vorontsov to the United Nations First Committee. ‘Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike.’
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