Russia declares that space satellites can become a "legitimate goal" in wartime

The Russian Federation continues its tendency to make provocative statements about international order in space. As the United States continues to use more and more commercial satellites for intelligence and communication, Russia has warned that they can be a "legitimate goal" for wartime operations, Space writes. Such statements were made by the Russian delegation during a meeting of the UN working group to reduce the space threats that occurs in Geneva from September 12 to September 16.

The purpose of the working group is to discuss ways to reduce threats and expand cooperation in space by creating and adopting new norms and principles of responsible behavior. Such a statement was made by Konstantin Vorontsov, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. He stated that the Russian delegation sees an extremely dangerous trend that goes beyond the harmless use of space technologies, which was especially revealed during the war in Ukraine.

According to Vorontsov, the use of the US and their allies of space satellites during invasion of Ukraine is indirect participation in the war, and these satellites can become a legitimate military goal for the Russian Federation. The Russian delegation curved that the use of space satellites for military purposes goes against the agreement on space, which provides only peaceful use of outer space.

Russia's statements that satellites could be a target for the defeat, after its invasion of Ukraine prompted Ilon Mask to send several Starlink parties to Ukraine to expand the online coating after Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. In addition to Starlink, commercial satellite companies, such as Planet, Maxar and Blacksky, provided important intelligence in Ukraine, which played an important role in the success of the Ukrainian army.

The Russian delegation also warned the UN from the adoption of "fragmentary, non-inclusive rules for regulating space activity, which do not take into account the approaches of all UN member states and aimed at ensuring the space dominance of a small group of countries. " Instead, Russia claims that the UN member states should focus on the obligation to not place any weapon in space, including orbits around the Earth and other celestial bodies.