Media: Chinese Reconnaissance Satellites Flew Over Lvivshchyna During Massive Russian Attack

What is known.

During the massive Russian attack on the night of October 5, at least three Chinese reconnaissance SAR satellites flew over the western part of Ukraine, which was the main target of the attack.

This was reported by "Militarny", citing data from the monitoring service Heavens Above, which tracks the movement of spacecraft.

In particular, the Yaogan 33 series satellites were recorded flying over Lviv: Yaogan 33, Yaogan 33-03 and Yaogan 33-04, which flew a total of 9 times over the region from 00:00 to about 11:30 a.m.

Around 6:00, the optical satellite Yaogan 34 also entered the region, which will make 7 rotations over the region during October 5.

The publication notes that Chinese reconnaissance satellites do not only fly over the western regions of Ukraine. In general, orbital parameters allow more than 60 different types of Yaogan satellites to work over Ukraine. They can perform optical, radar and electronic reconnaissance.

The satellites of this series are placed in low orbits at an altitude of about 700 kilometers. This allows them to make a complete revolution around the planet about every 90 minutes.

"Militarny" writes that there is little reliable information about the capabilities of the Yaogan 33 satellites. According to the official Chinese position, satellites of this type are used for scientific experiments, land research, and disaster prevention. However, it is believed that they are actually military reconnaissance satellites that are equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), similar to the ICEYE satellites.

The article states that the Yaogan 33 satellites were launched in 2022-2023 and replace the first-generation Yaogan-1 SAR reconnaissance satellites that were launched starting in 2006.

"At the same time, it is worth noting that it is unknown whether these satellites conducted actual reconnaissance while flying over Ukraine," Militarny writes.

It was previously reported that Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service recorded China's transfer of satellite information for strikes on targets in Ukraine, including investor sites.

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