Russia accused of eavesdropping on satellites
February 6, 2026
Russian space vehicles, not for the first time, have approached European satellites and intercepted their communications, officials believe. The risks to Europe’s military and government communications are serious.
Recently two satellites have passed dangerously close to some of Europe’s most important geostationary satellites, the FT reported, and lingered nearby for weeks and potentially collecting data and messages carried on the European satellites.
The report added the Russian satellite are Luch-1 and Luch-2 and they have approached 17 ‘Western’ satellites and potentially gathered crucial data. The satellites, according to the report, lack advanced onboard computers that could encrypt their transmissions, so the data is easily interpreted; it also leaves them vulnerable to interference suggests the news report.
Moscow has stepped up hybrid warfare, attacking infrastructure such as subsea cables, and such interceptions could provide it with a “blueprint for… sabotaging European space systems,” The Parliament wrote in a separate report.
The EU’s defence commissioner has called for a “big bang” approach to space defence: Germany plans to spend $41 billion to boost its military space technology in the next four years.
“Satellite networks are an Achilles heel of modern societies. Whoever attacks them can paralyze entire nations,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in September 2025, warning that Russian activity in space posed a fundamental threat that Europe could no longer ignore.
Officials believe Luch-1 may no longer be fully operational. On January 30th, ground-based telescopes observed what appeared to be a plume of gas emanating from the satellite, followed by signs of partial fragmentation.