Russia denies allegations of missile tests in space

Moscow, Ta. Saturday, July 25, 2020

Russia has denied US and British claims that it has tested an anti-satellite weapon in space. Russia says the allegations prove that the United States intends to deploy weapons in space. U.S. and British officials claimed Thursday that an anti-satellite weapons test on July 15 indicated that Russia was trying to develop technology that could pose a threat to U.S. and allied assets in space.

Russia's foreign ministry denied the allegations in a statement, saying the July 15 test did not pose a threat to space and was carried out in compliance with international law. The statement also said that Russia's space activities and peaceful missions were being publicized.

Asked about the US and British allegations, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the presidency, said Russia had always been in favor of demilitarization of space and non-deployment of any weapons.

The United States has said that US space command has evidence that Moscow tested a space-based anti-satellite weapon on July 15. Marshall Billingsley, the American nuclear disarmament narrator, later tweeted that this was completely unacceptable. Russia's test will be a major topic of discussion in Vienna next week, where it will discuss the New Start treaty.

Reacting to Russia's test, Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smith, the head of Britain's space director, said: "Such measures are dangerous for the peaceful use of space and risk of debris. It can also damage satellites and space systems on which the world depends. That is why we urge Russia to refrain from any such test. "