Russia says West's commercial satellites could be targets

LONDON (Reuters) - A senior Russian foreign ministry official said that commercial satellites from the United States and its allies could become legitimate targets for Russia if they were involved in the war in Ukraine.

"Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike," Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the foreign ministry's department for non-proliferation and arms control, was quoted as saying by TASS.

"We are talking about the involvement of components of civilian space infrastructure, including commercial, by the United States and its allies in armed conflicts," Vorontsov was quoted as saying at the United Nations.

The war in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, undermined the post-COVID global economic recovery and triggered the gravest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Editing by William Maclean)