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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaRussia developing ‘troubling’ new anti-satellite weapon, US saysPublished2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, EPAImage caption, Experts told the BBC that any weapon could cause chaos for the satellite reliant US (file image)By Bernd Debusmann JrBBC News, WashingtonRussia is developing a “troubling” new anti-satellite weapon, the US has said, but it emphasised that Moscow has yet to deploy it. White House spokesperson John Kirby made the comments a day after a senior House Republican issued vague warnings of a “serious national security threat”. The weapon is space-based and armed with a nuclear weapon to target satellites, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reported.But Mr Kirby did not confirm this and refused to offer precise details on the threat on Thursday. Moscow accused the US of using claims of new Russian weapons as a ruse to force Congress to pass additional Ukraine aid by “hook or by crook”. Mr Kirby, who was recently made a top aide to President Joe Biden, told reporters that there is no immediate threat to the US public. “We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings. or cause physical destruction, here on Earth,” he said. President Biden was briefed on the intelligence, Mr Kirby said, and that his administration was taking the development of the weapon “very seriously”. He added that the president had already ordered “direct diplomatic engagement with Russia” over the threat. House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner issued a cryptic warning about a serious national security threat on Wednesday, sparking a flurry of rumours around the capital. On Thursday, Mr Turner and others from the committee met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to discuss the matter further.”We all came away with a very strong impression that the administration is taking this very seriously and that the administration has a plan in place,” Mr Turner said following the meeting. “We look forward to supporting them as they go to implement it.”While space weapons sound ripped from the pages of science fiction novels or films such as Superman II and James Bond’s GoldenEye, military experts have long warned that space is likely to be the next frontier of warfare in an increasingly technology-dependent world. What do we know about the threat? Other than Mr Kirby’s comments, US government officials have yet to publicly reveal any specific details about the threat. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan suggested the silence is intentional, telling reporters on Wednesday that the US must prioritise the “sources and methods” its security agencies used to collect intelligence about the threat. The New York Times, ABC and CBS reported that the threat was related to Russia developing a nuclear-capable weapon that could be used to strike US satellites in space. Mr Kirby told reporters that there is no evidence that the weapon has been deployed, but emphasised that the US is taking the threat “very seriously”. For years, US officials and aerospace experts have warned that Russia and China have been steadily developing military capabilities in space as they seek to catch up to the US. Lawmaker’s cryptic warning of US ‘security threat’Space, the unseen frontier in the war in UkraineA report released by the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies last year suggested that Russia is developing a range of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, including a missile that was successfully tested against a defunct Soviet-era satellite in November 2021.One of the report’s authors, former top Pentagon intelligence official Kari Bingen, told the BBC that during its war in Ukraine, Russia has already used a variety of other methods – such as cyber attacks and jamming – to hamper satellite communications. “That is already a part of their warfighting doctrine,” she said. Should the public be worried?Senior lawmakers – including House Speaker Mike Johnson – have said that there is no need for public alarm. Mike Turner has also come under some criticism for announcing the threat, with fellow Republican Andy Ogles accusing him of a “reckless disregard” for the “well-being and psyche of the American people”.Experts and former officials, however, have warned that any threat to US satellites could have a far-reaching impact. More so than any of its potential global adversaries, the US military is heavily dependent on satellite communications for everything from surveillance and missile launch detection to navigation at sea and in the air, GPS-guided bombs and battlefield communications. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The US military is heavily dependent on satellites for everything from navigation to targeting.”Our military, the way our military fights today and the investment in weapons that we make is all contingent on space capabilities,” added Ms Bingen, who was the second-highest ranking intelligence official in the US department of defence. “Without that, we would be in a pretty tough situation. We could not fight the way we’ve learned to fight over the last 30 or 40 years.”The dependence on satellites is also evident in the civilian world, where satellites are used for a wide range of everyday functions from GPS-enabled ride-hailing services and food delivery to weather forecasting, precision agriculture and financial transactions that rely on satellite-based time signals.”Satellites are integral to our daily lives,” Ms Bingen added. “Americans, and citizens across the globe, rely on space and don’t even really know about it.” Are there any rules about space weapons? The US, Russia and China already have the capability to attack satellites around the world. But, in theory, they cannot use nuclear weapons there. All three are signatories of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which forbids countries from sending into orbit “any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction”. Mick Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence, said that the treaty provides no guarantee of safety in the current geopolitical climate. “Russia has shown a complete disregard for the treaties it has signed and has shown a willingness to use military force in Ukraine, counter to all international laws and norms,” he said. “They do not keep to their word or stick to their treaty obligations.” Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The US Space Force formally became a branch of the US military in December 2019.Will space be the new battlefield? Matthew Kroenig, a commissioner on the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States and a former defence and intelligence official during the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, told the BBC that it is natural that space has become an increasingly important focus of militaries around the world.”Up until this point, humans have kind of been exploring space,” he said. “But we’re now entering a phase where we’re seeing the commercialisation of space, and we’re just at the beginning.”The next phase, he added, will see countries around the globe focus on “securing” space. “We kind of take it for granted that the seas and the skies are free and open for commercial activity,” Mr Kroenig said. “Ideally, that’s where we would want space to be 30 years from now, traveling, doing business, and maybe even living in space,””We need to make sure that’s a safe, secure domain.” Related TopicsRussiaSpaceUnited StatesMore on this storyLawmaker’s cryptic warning of US ‘security threat’Published14 hours agoRussia accused of firing satellite weapon in spacePublished23 July 2020Radars to help UK counter ‘space warfare’ threatPublished2 December 2023Top StoriesLive. 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[ad_1] Former officials warn that anti-satellite weapons could cripple US communications and systems.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaWar-weary Ukrainians endure as Russia’s invasion drags onPublished26 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, ReutersImage caption, Lviv’s cemeteries are now filled with the graves of those killed in Russia’s full-scale invasionBy Fergal KeaneBBC News, LvivNearly two years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine Fergal Keane returns to Lviv station where in February and March 2022 he witnessed the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. In the stories of two individuals he examines how the war – now dragging into its third year – has affected the people of Ukraine.We heard the screams from far away. They came floating across the rows of the dead, over other graves still waiting to be filled, and over the rows of flags to commemorate the fallen, that flapped in the icy wind. The military cemetery of the Field of Mars in Lviv is usually a place of whispered prayers and stifled sobs. But on this winter morning the sound was a full-throated rage.He was about 100 yards away, a middle-aged man in military camouflage, walking between the lines of graves. He stopped and raised his hands to the sky and shouted out: “Death to the enemy.” He walked on and after a few steps began to scream again. No words. Just an agonised howl that gradually faded as he moved away. Nearby, a mother and daughter were settling flowers around the grave of a young man, a son, a brother. They had heard the commotion but continued with their work as if, two years and thousands of deaths into the war, it was all part of the normal order of things.There are war funerals most days in Lviv. The coffins are brought first to Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church where I witnessed the first funerals of the Russian invasion back in February 2022. Then, the war felt dramatically like a fight for national survival.The city of Lviv was the setting for the greatest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Millions of Ukrainians fled west after Russia launched its invasion in February 2022More than ten million Ukrainians had been uprooted from their homes and Lviv station teemed with refugees fleeing west. Stories of atrocities from places like Bucha and Mariupol arrived with every refugee train.The drama captured the attention of the world. People fought to get on trains. The elderly and the sick were carried in wheelchairs up the crowded steps to the platforms. There was the constant noise of children crying, voices on the station tannoy, the whistles of trains arriving and departing, and always the air raid sirens to remind people that death could come at any time.To return is to find a station that has accustomed itself to war. On platform five the refugee crowds are long gone. So too the army of volunteer medics and stewards, cooks and musicians, whose kindness helped ease the terror felt by so many.Now there are young men and women waiting in the cold and shadows for trains to take them east to fight. And there are families returning from abroad for brief visits to loved ones still living in Ukraine. Two years on, the war has settled on Lviv station, a stubborn season that will not move. There is weariness. And everywhere, stories of what’s been lost.Take the story of Natasha Ambarova. She was a doctor who ran an emergency clinic at the station.Image caption, Natasha – originally a Russian citizen – now wants to sign up to fight for UkraineWe met at the height of the refugee crisis, when she was directing a team of doctors, nurses and volunteers, constantly on the move down the long, crowded corridors to wherever help was needed. Through all of this she was dealing with a family crisis: Natasha is of Russian origin and her siblings in Moscow supported Putin’s war. Natasha has lost all contact with her Russian family.”These people are lost for me. They will never say no and will remain silent like slaves.”Natasha is teaching medicine at Lviv University, aware that her students might be drafted to fight. Several staff from the university have been killed. Her own feelings towards Russia have hardened. She describes the air raids on the city, and how her children were woken by a door being blown off its hinges by an explosion. Now this doctor, this mother of a 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, wants to fight. The healer of bodies would like to be a sniper.”I love shooting from different weapons. I would be a good sniper,” she says.When I ask how someone whose mission it is to heal felt about being prepared to kill, she replies: “It’s my war… I will kill anyone so my children will be safe. This is a matter of survival. I am fighting for my land.”The war is impacting the psyche of Ukrainians in many different ways. After so much suffering, trauma is everywhere and expresses itself in different ways. But it has not erased the spirit of kindness that was so evident two years ago.In a carriage heading towards Kyiv, I meet a short, stocky man with an engaging smile. Volodymyr Moisei is one-armed, the consequence of a car accident several years ago, and so his military role is that of a chaplain. But he is also a bringer of gifts, delivering presents and treats to children living in front-line areas. Image caption, Volodymyr is now a chaplain, who brings presents to children near Ukraine’s front linesSince before Russia’s full-scale invasion, he and his wife have fostered troubled children – those from broken families, and now those displaced by the war.When the war began, one of his former foster children, Andriy, wanted to go back to his home village to care for his mother, an alcoholic with whom he’d had a troubled relationship. Volodymyr shows me a black-and-white photograph taken by Andriy at a family dinner before the war. Chechen forces under the command of top Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov had taken over the village.”[Although an alcoholic] she was still his mother. And he went and created a small militia in this village in order to stop the Chechens, Kadyrov’s people who began entering there. And unfortunately they found out after some time. They shot him and they threw him dead in a field,” he says.Image source, AndriyImage caption, Andriy was killed by Russians at the age of just 25On this journey Volodymyr is heading 816km south to Kryvyi Rih, and from there another three hours by road with his friend Oleksandr to Kherson, a city re-taken from the Russians in November 2022. Together they will distribute gifts in front-line villages.Accompanied by a BBC cameraman, they stop at a windswept bus stop in the countryside, where a group of around 20 mothers and children has gathered. There is danger from Russian shelling. The war can come crashing down at any time. Yet people cling to their homes. If you leave, when do you return? Do you ever return? One of the mothers, Larysa Shkliar, organises the meetings with Volodymyr and Oleksandr. She adamantly refuses to leave or to send her children away.”Someone made a law, that we must evacuate the children, as our village is in red zone,” Larysa says. “But when I ask them, ‘Are you going to be responsible for my children, if I do it?’ They say no.”I did not evacuate mine. I am their mother, and responsible for them. When Oleksandr and Volodymyr come it’s like a celebration for us and the kids.”A girl of around 10 years of age, Lera Verizon, comes forward. Volodymyr hands her a parcel. She starts to explain what happened when the Russians attacked her school. “There were three air strikes at us. We didn’t know what to do. I was scared. The window was blown out in the room where my sister was.” As she says the last words Lera begins to cry. She turns into the embrace of her mother Ola who strokes her head. “There bunny, there. It will be OK,” she says.Volodymyr must leave. There are other villages to reach before nightfall and much work still to do.”You know, I have stopped trying to understand this war long ago. It takes away the whole life and even takes away the purpose of it, so it takes away the most important time that a child can experience,” Volodymyr says. As the war lurches into its third year this gentle chaplain tries to create some normality for children, a place “where they can dream again.”Our World – Return to Platform 5: Families at war is available now on BBC iPlayerRelated TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaUkraineMore on this storyInside Ukraine’s struggle to find new men to fightPublished2 days agoThe Ukrainians ‘disappearing’ in Russia’s prisonsPublished4 days agoRos Atkins on… How the Ukraine war has stagnatedPublished4 days agoTop StoriesCrackers and cake drive food price fall but overall inflation stays at 4%Published58 minutes agoUkraine claims sinking of Russian ship off CrimeaPublished1 hour agoFull cemeteries and empty homes: Ukrainians struggle two years after invasionPublished26 minutes agoFeaturesSteve Wright: Radio giant and feel-good friend to millions’Like a friend’ – listeners’ tributes to Steve WrightFull cemeteries and empty homes: Ukrainians struggle two years after invasionTorvill, Dean and the death of romanceAttributionSport’Parties can get more people to visit church’Resignations of leading women give Hungary’s Orban his biggest crisis’He said he was a UN surgeon and that lured me in’ – the world of romance scamsWatch: What the maps miss about this huge Asian nation. 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