Russia is preparing to launch nuclear weapons into space this year - Bloomberg
A nuclear explosion could potentially affect about a third of satellites and damage communications systems on Earth
The United States has warned allies that Russia could place a nuclear weapon or mock warhead in space as early as this year.
Source. Bloomberg writes about this with reference to knowledgeable sources.
According to the agency's interlocutors, Russia is working on a space-based nuclear weapon that will allow it to destroy satellites.
Placing such weapons in orbit would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which Russia signed.
According to Washington's assessment, cited by sources, Russia has no plans to detonate any orbital weapons.
However, there is a risk of an accident, and a nuclear explosion could potentially affect about a third of the satellites and damage communications systems on Earth, they said.
Vladimir Putin made a statement on Tuesday that Moscow has no plans to deploy nuclear weapons.
"We have always been categorically opposed to the deployment of nuclear weapons in space," Putin said at a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. – "In space, we do only what other countries, including the United States, do," Putin said.
Last week, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee was the first to report an unnamed serious threat to US security from Russia.
Later, sources from several media outlets reported that it was an orbital nuclear weapon that could be used to disable satellites.
US President Joe Biden said that the Kremlin was developing anti-satellite space weapons that did not pose a direct threat to human life.
The United States and its allies are trying to dissuade Russia from deploying such weapons, sources tell Bloomberg and The New York Times. According to them, China and India are involved in the negotiations, among others.
On Thursday, Politico reported that senior intelligence and White House officials had been trying to contact Moscow and persuade it to stop the project for several weeks before it became known.
Background. Earlier, the White House confirmed that Russia is preparing to pose a threat in space.
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