Ex-Roscosmos CEO Says He Has Detailed Information on Weapon Used in Donetsk Attack

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The former CEO of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, told Sputnik that satellite imagery had helped spot the howitzer from which he was attacked in Donetsk.

"Since I worked for four years in our state corporation Roscosmos, I have good friends, partners and comrades there. I had requested an accurate map, a picture that was taken that day, that evening, by one of our spacecraft. I believe that we have established exactly the weapon from which the shot was fired, which was at the optimal distance and position for shots. We continue to monitor this combat crew, which fired at us, and I hope, when I return, they will be found and destroyed," Rogozin said.

Servicemen from the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have managed to seize subscriber terminals of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communication system, which were used by the Ukrainian military, as trophies, Dmitry Rogozin said.

"Space communications are a special topic. We know what benefit... and harm the Starlink space communication systems used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine have brought to us, and these devices, the subscriber equipment itself. By the way, we have it trophied," Rogozin said.

Starlink has reportedly provided Ukraine with an estimated 22,000 devices since the start of Russia's special military operation in February of last year.

Russia has deployed satellite communication terminals to a military unit in the Donetsk People's Republic for testing, Rogozin said.

"We have created the first compact sets [of satcom equipment]. They have been placed with an artillery brigade and are performing well," the former head of Roscosmos told Sputnik in an interview.

The military technology is based off civilian solutions marketed by Russian companies, Rogozin said. The former official, who is on a military advisory panel, said the tech was tailored for use "along the frontline when the enemy is jamming this sort of communication channels."

In December of last year, the hotel where Rogozin and a group of Russian military advisers were staying in Donetsk came under fire. The ex-space official was wounded in the spine by a shell fragment, while one of the military advisers was killed.

Since November 2022, the former Roscosmos CEO has been heading an inspection group of military advisers in the zone of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, which provides technical support to units in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).