Ukraine steps up strikes on Russia's satellite control centres, straining Moscow's space programme

For months, Ukraine's defence forces have been targeting Russia's ground-based space communications infrastructure — facilities long considered untouchable due to their distance from the front and heavy air defence protection.

What these centres do

Space communications centres operate satellites, maintain contact with them, correct orbits and calibrate navigation satellites, including the GLONASS system. Russia inherited this Soviet-era infrastructure and uses it for both civilian and military purposes, including command of its nuclear triad. Experts note that converting civilian stations for military use is simple — only the electronics need replacing — which is why such facilities have become legitimate targets alongside purely military ones.

History of strikes and their effects

The first confirmed strike came in December 2023, when Storm Shadow missiles hit a deep-space communications centre in occupied Crimea. ATACMS strikes near Alushta followed, and in June 2026 Ukraine expanded its drone campaign to hit the Dubna centre, the Vladimir station and other facilities.

Experts note that destroying a ground hub does not mean an immediate loss of satellites, since modern spacecraft can operate autonomously. Still, strikes force Russia to reroute communications through backup facilities, slowing the flow of military orders, and can degrade GLONASS accuracy within weeks. This would not fully blind guided munitions, however, since they also rely on GPS, BeiDou or inertial navigation.

Russia's fallback options

Russia maintains several layers of backup, including receiving stations in Siberia, the Far East and abroad, plus mobile vehicle-mounted control systems. Rebuilding destroyed infrastructure is costly and slow, as antenna rotation mechanisms are no longer mass-produced. The only realistic way to quickly reinforce its space programme is cooperation with China, though that comes at a cost and creates dependency on a foreign partner.

Ukraine is also targeting launch sites such as the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, forcing Russia to divert more air-defence resources to protect distant facilities and spend additional funds on repairs.