Zelensky: Russian Satellites Captured Persian Gulf Images for Iran

Russian satellites captured images of U.S. military sites in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf on behalf of Iran.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this, citing intelligence reports.

He added that on March 24, Russian satellites specifically photographed the U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Additional imaging targeted Kuwait International Airport and parts of the oil fields at the Greater Burgan site. On March 25, the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia was photographed. On March 26, the Shaybah oil and gas field in Saudi Arabia, the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, and the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar were imaged.

“There are no Ukrainian sites on this list. But who is helping whom by lifting sanctions on an aggressor that earns money every day and provides relevant information for attacks on American, Middle Eastern, British, and U.S.-U.K. bases?” he emphasized.

Overall, Russia operates at least 17 optical satellites, 5 radar (SAR) satellites, and 8 signal intelligence satellites, supported by an unknown number of “civilian” dual-use spacecraft.

After analyzing data from satellite-tracking monitoring services, Militarnyi discovered that one of the satellites passing over the Diego Garcia base was the Russian SAR satellite “Neutron” (Kosmos 2553), which made two passes over the site on March 24.

Officially, the satellite is described as a “technology demonstrator for testing radiation exposure conditions,” but space observation data and Western intelligence indicate that it is in fact a reconnaissance satellite.

“Neutron” was launched in early 2022 into an unusually high orbit – around 2,000 km. This allows it to cover a much larger area than low-Earth orbit satellites, although it somewhat reduces the maximum image resolution.

Due to the classified nature of the program, precise details about the satellite’s capabilities remain unknown. It is believed to be built on the same platform as the Kondor series satellites, but optimized for significantly higher altitude.

The Kondor satellites and their successor, Kondor-FKA, are equipped with an S-band SAR radar. In high-resolution mode, they can capture images with a resolution of about 1–2 meters over a swath 10–20 km wide.

On March 21, Iran attacked the joint U.S.-U.K. base on Diego Garcia Island, located about 4,000 kilometers from the country, with two ballistic missiles, likely Khorramshahr.

This attack exceeded the range Iran officially claims as achievable (up to 2,500 km). Despite this, the first missile malfunctioned and broke apart mid-flight, while an SM-3 missile likely intercepted the other.