The aggressor country, Russia, could buy satellite images of objects in Ukraine from American companies.
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This is a purely commercial service. Ukraine also buys satellite images from private US companies. It is possible that Russia could also buy such data. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, stated this in a commentary to Public.
All countries buy, including us. They used commercial photographs before,” he noted.
Earlier, The Atlantic reported that Russian missile attacks on Ukraine could be carried out using satellite images provided by companies in the United States.
One military source told reporters that a satellite first takes pictures of the site, and after a few days or weeks a rocket arrives there. Sometimes another satellite is then sent to take additional images, perhaps to check for damage.
The Atlantic’s source said that the number of coincidences when the images are followed by impacts is too great for it to be an accident.
According to the publication, such cases are accumulating. In addition, many satellite imagery companies offer a list of archived images with dates and coordinates. And after viewing tens of thousands of images taken in Ukraine, suspicious patterns can be seen.
An article in The Atlantic states that satellite imagery also preceded the strikes in Lviv shortly before March 26, 2022. Before the attack, someone assigned a satellite to inspect a military armor factory, which was subsequently attacked.
At the end of January this year, someone commissioned a commercial satellite company to take fresh images of Kyiv, just before the city was hit by rocket attacks, the material says.
Let us remind you that Reuters reported that the American company SpaceX is building a spy network of satellites for the US government. In 2021, billionaire Elon Musk’s company received a secret contract with the National Reconnaissance Office, the spy agency that operates spy satellites, worth $1.8 billion.
Sources: The Public, The Atlantic
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.