Russia will treat any hacking of its satellites as a justification for war, the head of the country's space agency was quoted as saying in a news report on Wednesday, after a hack of the systems was claimed by a non-state hacking group on Tuesday.
Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin denied media reports that Russian satellite control centers have already been hacked amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, while warning against any attempts to do so, Interfax news agency reported.
"Off-lining the satellites of any country is actually a casus belli, a cause for war," Interfax quoted him as saying.
Hacking group Network Battalion 65 claimed on March 1 to have hacked Russian satellite imaging systems.We won't stop until you stop. pic.twitter.com/Cy1kiAN0bc
— NB65 (@xxNB65) March 1, 2022
#Anonymous is not alone. NB65 has officially declared cyber war on Russia as well. You want to invade Ukraine? Good. Face resistance from the entire world. #UkraineWar All of us are watching. All of us are fighting.
— NB65 (@xxNB65) February 27, 2022
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Rogozin also said his agency wanted British-based tech firm OneWeb to provide guarantees that its satellites are not going to be used against Russia, Interfax added.
Without these, Rogozin said Russia will cancel the planned March 4 launch of 36 OneWeb satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan, without compensating OneWeb, the Russian news agency reported.