Kyiv claims second strike on Russian space communications hub in week

Ukraine's armed forces have reported a second strike within a week on a major Russian space communications facility, this time targeting the Vladimir Space Communications Centre in Russia's Vladimir region.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the overnight attack on June 24 hit the Vladimir Space Communications Centre (SCC), located in the city of Gus-Khrustalny. The facility is a branch of the Russian state-owned enterprise Kosmicheskaya Svyaz (Space Communications).

Citing the Ukrainian military command, The Moscow Times reported that “damage to two buildings of the facility, followed by a fire, has been confirmed.”

The Ukrainian military said the centre plays a role in supporting satellite and deep-space communication systems used, among others, by Russia's security and defence structures.

According to publicly available information, the facility provides satellite communication services across multiple frequency bands. Its command-and-measurement station is used to control and monitor satellites of the Express-AM series, including telemetry operations and orbital parameter measurements. The satellites support digital television and radio broadcasting, broadband internet services, and telephone communications.

Russian authorities have not officially commented on the reported strike.

The attack follows a Ukrainian strike on the Dubna Space Communications Centre in the Moscow region on June 22, marking the second reported attack on a Russian space communications facility in less than a week.

The General Staff of Ukraine said the earlier operation damaged the “hardware-modular complex of the 32-metre MARK-IV antenna used for satellite communications, as well as a technical building located near the antenna.”

Ukrainian officials also reported damage to the facility's main production and administrative building, which houses critical hardware and software systems. According to the military, part of one wall was destroyed, affecting a structure that contains the central communications equipment line, Ground Control Complex systems, and the Central Satellite Network Control Centre.

The Dubna facility is considered Russia's largest space communications station and forms part of the country's critical information infrastructure. The complex is used to provide television broadcasting and data transmission services for government agencies and private operators, while also supporting communications with satellite constellations in orbit.

By Vafa Guliyeva