US to respond 'appropriately' if Russia attacks satellites: Kirby
As Elon Musk deploys his satellites to Ukraine in the background, Russia suggests that satellites used for military purposes are a target.
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Starlink satellite in space
The United States will be responding in an "appropriate" way to any Russian attack against US commercial satellites, according to the White House on Thursday. This came after a Russian Foreign Ministry official asserted that the US use of commercial satellites in space for military purposes could render them targets.
"Any attack on US infrastructure will be met with an appropriate response in an appropriate way," John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters.
The United States will "hold Russia accountable for any such attack, should it occur," he said.
Russian Foreign Ministry official Konstantin Vorontsov said Wednesday, speaking to the United Nations, that the use of commercial satellites "in outer space for military purposes" by Western countries is an "extremely dangerous trend."
"These states do not realize that such actions in fact constitute indirect participation in military conflicts," Vorontsov said. "Quasi-civilian infrastructure may become a legitimate target for retaliation."
The Russian official did not specify which commercial satellites were being used.
Musk, a geopolitical player
Starlink's SpaceX satellites have recently been deployed to provide communication for Ukrainian military personnel, including its neo-Nazi battalions, rendering Musk a geopolitical player in Europe.
Space companies are largely important in this day and age due to surpassing governments in terms of their abilities to grant technological and geopolitical powers they offer to those wielding their services.
The capitalization of space has offered these companies an ecosystem they can exist with resources focused solely on developing their abilities, unlike states, which have to diversify where their taxpayer money goes.
The US did not make the decision that Musk activates Starlink in Ukraine, he took the matter into his own hands after Kiev called him on to do so.
Starlink "changed the course of the war to Ukraine’s advantage," said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister.
