Pentagon: Russia Launches Spacecraft Capable Of Destroying Satellites

The launch and putting into orbit took place on May 16.

Russia has launched a spacecraft that can attack satellites in low-Earth orbit, Pentagon speaker Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said.

According to him, the launch and putting into orbit took place on May 16. “Russia has placed this new anti-space weapon in the same orbit as the U.S. government satellite,” Ryder said. He added that the Pentagon continues to monitor the situation.

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported the launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with spacecraft on board from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk region). This happened on the night of May 17, when it was still May 16 in the United States.

In February, the United States said that Russia was preparing to place nuclear weapons in space, writes The Moscow Times. The weapons being developed by Moscow could hit commercial and government satellites in low orbit, creating a powerful electromagnetic wave during a charge explosion that would disable the devices, U.S. officials told CNN.

According to Bloomberg, Russia may have nuclear weapons in space as early as 2024. However, as The New York Times wrote, there is no consensus in the US intelligence services whether it will be a real weapon or a fake warhead.

Russian authorities deny plans to place nuclear weapons in space. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the information in the Western media about this "stuffing". He stressed that Moscow is categorically against the introduction of nuclear weapons into low-Earth orbit. At the same time, Putin added that in space, Russia does only what other countries, including the United States, have.

In April, Russia vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution prepared by the United States and Japan on the non-deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space, as the authors of the document refused to include the amendment proposed by Russia and China. It was a ban on the use of any weapon in space.