Russia has been attacking European satellites for many years - European Commission

Russia’s 'long-standing practice'

Commenting on a Financial Times report about Russian intelligence agencies intercepting European satellites, Regnier noted that such activity from Moscow is not unexpected.

"Long-standing practice from Russia. There's nothing new here. targeting space assets or European space assets or satellites is something that has been done by Russia for years, if not decades now. So there is nothing new here. We're very well aware of this issue," the European Commission spokesperson said.

How Europe will protect itself in space

Regnier emphasized that the EU already has tools to detect threats and is developing new mechanisms to deter aggression in space:

• Galileo system: an existing satellite network capable of detecting and deterring such attacks.

• European space shields: a new initiative the EU will deploy together with member states as part of a defense roadmap. These shields are specifically designed for the physical and cyber protection of satellites.

"So nothing new, (we) know that Russia is doing it, and we are prepared to counter that if needed," Regnier concluded.

Rumors of satellite interceptions

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that two Russian spacecraft — Luch-1 and Luch-2 — have conducted suspicious maneuvers in orbit over the past three years, successfully intercepting communications over Europe.

In particular, since its launch in 2023, Luch-2 has approached 17 European geostationary satellites.

According to Western officials, these spacecraft are suspected of conducting signals intelligence operations.