KYIV — Ukraine's military said its drones struck a Russian satellite communications and intelligence-processing facility south of Moscow, the latest in a series of attacks this month targeting Russia's space communications infrastructure, satellite imagery and open-source monitors showed.
The strike hit the 476th Central Information Reception and Processing Center of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), also known as Meshcherino-1, located roughly 65 kilometers south of Moscow, according to defense monitoring group Defense Express, citing satellite imagery published by the open-source community Exilenova+. The imagery, taken the night of June 26, shows apparent damage to a three-story building and a hangar at the site, the group said. Neither Ukrainian nor Russian authorities have officially confirmed the attack, and the extent of damage and any casualties could not be independently verified.
The facility processes data from Russian military reconnaissance satellites, according to Defense Express, though most details of its operations remain classified.
The reported strike follows two confirmed Ukrainian attacks on Russian satellite ground stations earlier in June. Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow and the Vladimir Space Communications Center east of the capital on June 22, in operations it said also hit a major natural gas processing plant in the Orenburg region. Ukraine's General Staff described Dubna as Russia's largest ground-based satellite communications complex. Russian state operator Kosmicheskaya Svyaz acknowledged a drone attack on the Dubna site but said television and communications services were unaffected and no personnel were injured. Satellite imagery later confirmed damage to Vladimir's main 25-meter parabolic antenna and an adjacent hardware building, according to Militarnyi, a Ukrainian defense outlet.
Russian officials have made no statement on the reported June 26 strike. Reuters could not independently verify the General Staff's involvement or the reported damage. The situation remains under review, and further details are expected as Ukrainian and Russian authorities respond.
