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US has suspended Ukraine's access to commercial satellite imagery [1]
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Date: 2025-03-07
I saw this in the Washington Post just now, if anybody else has already written about it, apologies.
I’ll tell you what, this is nasty. Krasnov’s really trying to get Ukraine run over and/or force them to surrender and is justifying Putin’s latest assault (of course.) The lack of imagery is already affecting soldiers on the ground.
From the Post:
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has “temporarily suspended access” to the system that provides commercial satellite imagery purchased by the United States “in accordance with the administration’s directive on support to Ukraine,” the agency said in a statement. U.S. partners and allies use the system to access the imagery through its orbital imaging services known as Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery. U.S. officials said the suspension affected multiple companies that deliver imagery through the program.
The article further explains that Ukraine has relied upon the system to fly drones and otherwise give them a technological edge in their fight for survival against Russia. This is a direct aid to Putin and is extremely harmful to Ukraine. Artillery units use the imagery as well and like the drones, use it to assess and aid in targeting.
The suspension was immediately felt by soldiers in the Ukrainian military, some of whom described the decision as treachery, not politics. Senior troops have used battle software into which the imagery is integrated, but the maps within the programs are no longer usable, said Oleksandr, 40, an officer overseeing intelligence operations inside Russia’s Kursk region.
This is really something. We have gone to helping Ukraine to betraying them and helping Russia!
Well it fits if you regard our so-called leader as a Russian asset. But this is blatant. I wonder what they’re thinking over there, in Europe, in other countries that had regarded us as an ally.
This, it should be noted, is not a catastrophic situation for Ukraine. According the Post, they can access imagery through other means but still it’s upsetting.
The article states, finally, that Krasnov is considering sanctions on Russia to compel peace talks. Uh huh.
We will see.
I saw another piece in the NYT describing our so-called foreign policy these days as “realism,” “Neanderthal realism,” at that.
Well you can keep it. The whole “realism” argument is devoid of morality entirely and therefore, isn’t effective if you want to advance American interests. Those interests clearly include helping other people thrive, saving the environment, promoting democracy and human rights and this outfit is doing the exact opposite, home and abroad.
A depressing situation.
www.washingtonpost.com/...
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