On the eve of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia launched a nuclear weapon satellite - WSJ

Moscow claims that they use a spacecraft for scientific research, but in the United States such rhetoric do not believe, journalists say. A few days before the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Space-2553 satellite was launched into space, on which there were components of the anti-satellite nuclear weapons system. This is discussed in the material of The Wall Street Journal with reference to American officials.

In particular, it is known that the main purpose of the Space-2553 apparatus is to test the components of a potential sipping weapon, which is capable of carrying a nuclear device. Sources also point out that the Russian satellite does not carry nuclear weapons, but it has non -nuclear components of the new Russian arms system.

In the event of the deployment of these weapons, Russia will be able to destroy hundreds of satellites with a nuclear explosion in low Earth orbit in the part of the cosmos where the vast majority of US and SpaceX. At the same time, one of the interlocutors of WSJ believes that the launched satellite can be considered a "prototype" of weapons, while others claim that the Russian program has not advanced so far.

The launch of Space-2553 satellite took place on February 5, 2022 and still traveled around the Earth in an unusual orbit. Representatives of the Russian Federation claim that the spacecraft should be used for scientific research, but American officials consider this statement unlikely. On May 2, it became known that, according to John Pentagon's Pentagon Assistant Pentagon, the United States believes that China and Russia militarized space.