Putin could launch attacks on West in Space according says Admiral Sir Tony Radakin

Vladimir Putin could launch attacks on the West in space, says head of armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. 

The senior Royal Navy officer said Russia could attack America and European nations from the skies and just below the earth surface. 

Sir Tony told the Telegraph: ‘It has capabilities in space… We saw an example of that at the tail end of last year, when Russia exploded an object in space which created immense debris. Russia has nuclear capabilities, Russia has underwater capabilities.’

The news comes after Moscow was accused of vandalising Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines which supplies natural gas directly to Germany. 

European leaders believe both explosions were an intentional act carried out on the Kremlin’s orders, with the Chief of the Defence staff calling the blasts ‘unprecedented’. 

Sir Tony declined to blame Russia but said they had the capabilities to damage the Continent and Ukraine on information battles.

It has anti-satellite powers and demonstrated this in November by blowing on of its own satellites using a missile – marking the country’s first complete test of the technology.

NATO, having been briefed on the test by Washington, condemned what it called a ‘reckless act’ by Moscow that ‘demonstrates Russia is developing new weapons.’ 

US Space Command had earlier accused Russia of showing a ‘deliberate disregard for the security, safety, stability, and long-term sustainability of space’ while warning that debris from the destroyed satellite could remain in orbit for ‘decades’.

File image: Russia has confirmed that it blew up one of its own satellites in November in a weapons test, but denied the test had threatened the International Space Station

File image: Russia did not immediately say what weapon it tested but it was believed to be an A-235 PL-19 Nudol ‘satellite killer’ missile

Astronauts aboard the ISS were told to shelter in their escape pods (pictured) for two hours on Monday amid fears that debris from the blast could hit the station 

After confirming the test, the Russian MoD said: ‘On November 15, the Russian Defense Ministry successfully conducted a test, as a result of which the inoperative Russian Tselina-D spacecraft, which had been in orbit since 1982, was struck.

‘The United States knows for certain that the resulting fragments did not represent and will not pose a threat to orbital stations, spacecraft and space activities.’

The MoD did not say what kind of weapon had been used in the test, or where exactly the test took place – though US analysts believe it was an A-235 PL-19 Nudol ‘satellite killer’ missile fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.

The undated handout image from the Russian Ministry of Defense shows a Nudol surface-to-space missile. The missile was used to shoot down the satellite

The ISS appeared to function normally after the ‘test’ and all seven astronauts onboard the floating space laboratory were safe. The image above shows the route of the ISS as it orbits the planet in November

Sir Tony said Russia would be heavily targeted by Western allies it would garner a strong response and be hurt significantly. 

He argued the UK had the resolve to see the crisis through and overcome the impending threats of Russian aggression. 

The 56-year-old went on to argue that Putin did not want war with NATO.

At the same time the united front shown by the Western powers has been a huge incentive for the people of Ukraine. 

LeoLabs, Inc. tweeted a graph which showed ’30 unique objects’ detected near the expected location of Cosmos 1408. ‘The objects currently span a distance range of ~40km as viewed from our radar sites,’ according to the site

The tests were criticised by the Biden Administration and the space community because of the risk they create for crews in low Earth orbit. It came amid unconfirmed reports President Vladimir Putin and Russia performed an anti-satellite weapon test

He has observed the ‘calamitous’ way in which Russia have pursued the war while seeing the way Ukraine shifted its tactics during the fight. 

Although he described the war as a ‘despicable, horrible war’ to the Telegraph, he said he was pleasantly surprised that the belligerent country was not achieving its war objectives.  

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has regularly praised Britain’s involvement in the war, calling the country ‘brave’ and heaping praise on former prime minister Boris Johnson.