Civilian space infrastructure in space used by the United States and its allies during the conflict in Ukraine could be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Nonproliferation and Arms Control Department Konstantin Vorontsov said Thursday at a roundtable in the Federation Council on the militarization of space.
"On specialized international platforms, we also separately draw attention to the extremely dangerous and beyond harmless use of space technologies, clearly manifested during the events in Ukraine. We are talking about the use by the United States and its allies of components of civilian infrastructure in space, including commercial infrastructure, for military purposes," he said.
"We point out that such activities essentially constitute indirect participation in armed conflicts. We point out that such quasi-civilian space infrastructure could be a legitimate target for retaliation," Vorontsov stressed.
According to the diplomat, such "provocative use of civilian satellites at the very least raises questions in the context of the Outer Space Treaty, which provides for its exclusively peaceful use, and requires the most serious condemnation by the international community."
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS