Russia says Western satellites 'work for our enemy'

Russia's space agency published the coordinates of Western defence headquarters including the US Pentagon and the venue of NATO's summit on Tuesday, saying Western satellite operators were working for Russia's enemy - Ukraine.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, told the Russian RIA Novosti news agency: "The entire conglomerate of private and state orbital groupings is now working exclusively for our enemy."

Members of the US-led NATO alliance make no secret of the fact that they are sending weapons to help Ukraine resist Russia's invasion.

The US satellite imagery company Maxar, whose clients include the US Defense Department, has several times published pictures it has taken over Ukraine and Russia since before the invasion began in February.

They included images of Russia's military build-up near Ukraine, at a time when it was denying any intention to invade. 

"Today, the NATO summit opens in Madrid, at which Western countries will declare Russia their worst enemy," Rogozin wrote on his Telegram social media channel.

"Roscosmos publishes satellite photographs of the summit venue and the very 'decision centres' that support Ukrainian nationalists."

The posting included Russian satellite pictures of the summit venue in Madrid, the Pentagon, the White House in Washington, British government buildings in central London, the German Chancellery and Reichstag parliament building in Berlin, NATO headquarters in Brussels, and the French president's residence and other government buildings in Paris.

"At the same time, we are giving the coordinates of the objects," Rogozin added. "Just in case."

The coordinates, expressed as degrees of latitude and longitude, are freely available.

Russia calls its invasion a "special military operation", saying it had to act to protect Russian speakers from persecution and prevent NATO using Ukraine to threaten Russia's security. Kyiv and NATO dismiss this reasoning as a baseless pretext for war.