Was Putin Planning To Strike Ukraine With 'Space Rocket'? What We Know

The former head of Russia's space agency discussed conducting a terrorist attack on Ukraine using a Soyuz rocket in a plan presented to Vladimir Putin, the German newspaper Bild has reported.

The mass circulation tabloid newspaper reported on Tuesday that it had obtained audio recordings of a conversation involving the former head of Russia's federal space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, and the general director of the country's Progress Rocket Space Center, Dmitry Baranov.

The German tabloid's report was picked up by other outlets, including Ukrainian media and the British tabloids, The Sun and Daily Mail. Its claims have not been independently verified. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.

Progress, the Russian space science and aerospace research company, developed the Soyuz-FG rocket, which is used for launching manned and transport spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Former Roscosmos chief Rogozin was dismissed in July 2022 from his post. In May 2023, he said he doubted that the US Apollo 11 mission really landed on the Moon, saying that he had yet to see conclusive proof.

But Bild's recording purports to show Rogozin talking about converting a Soyuz-type carrier rocket so that it did not reach orbit and so could be sent to crash into a large city in Ukraine, "probably Kyiv, with huge amounts of explosives on board."

The pair allegedly discuss a rocket "coming from the north, not the east," that is, from the Russian Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, instead of the Vostochny Cosmodrome on the border with China.

"From the east, it will be 7.5 tons, from the north—10 tons," Baranov, the director general of Progress, said, according to Bild, during a seven-minute recording. The recording was also posted on the Telegram channel of VChK-OGPU, which claims to have inside information from Russian security forces, although it has given no evidence of that.

Baranov said that a launch vehicle can be pointed "in any direction we want," but there was the risk that high-explosive bombs or guided warheads would overheat when entering the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, Bild reported.

Another risk the pair reportedly discussed was that parts of the rocket could fall into Russian territory and there were questions over its accuracy. When asked how long it would take to prepare the operation, Baranov told Rogozin around "six months." Rogozin then promised to consult about this with the chief designer of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, Yuri Solomonov.

Rogozin said he would inform Putin of the plan via the head of the presidential administration, Anton Vaino whom he said was "very interested" and asked for a "paper" to give to the Russian leader, Bild said. The German paper said the plan was brought to the attention of the Russian president on January 16, although it is not known how he reacted to it.

There is no confirmation that the pair's alleged discussion was considered by the Kremlin. Rogozin has been a regular commentator on the war in Ukraine, even proposing using tactical nuclear weapons in response to Kyiv's counteroffensive. In September, he was appointed senator from the annexed Zaporozhzhia region of Ukraine.

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