UN reprimands Russia over alleged satellite interference

The United Nations Radio Regulations Board reprimands Russia for satellite interference. The sources of the signals are believed to originate from Moscow and Kaliningrad, but Russia denies any wrongdoing.

The conflict in Ukraine is a severe problem affecting the country, the entire region, and the global economy. This conflict led to enormous human and material losses and destabilised the political situation in Europe.

At the same time, European countries are increasingly experiencing hybrid warfare from Russia. These activities include cyberattacks, disinformation, and attempts to destabilise political and social situations. Russia uses these methods to weaken the unity and stability of European countries, which poses an additional challenge to the continent's security. Recently, some European countries have begun to complain about satellite interference.

The Radio Regulations Board (RRB), part of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a telecommunications agency of the United Nations (UN), held a meeting to discuss a range of issues. One topic was satellite interference reportedly originating from Russia.

As described by TheRegister, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Ukraine reported problems receiving signals, with the impact of the Russian Federation reportedly leading not only to transmission interruptions but even to taking control of television channels (in the Netherlands, children's shows were replaced with war films).

Satellite operators linked the interference to three locations in Russia: Moscow, Kaliningrad, and Pavlovka.

The Radio Regulations Board ordered Russia to cease interfering with satellite signals, provide the agency with information about internal investigations into these interferences, and search the areas identified by the satellite operators as sources of the problem.

Russia denied any knowledge of interference, informing the RRB that it had not detected any disturbances.

The agency stated that, for now, it would not heed France, Sweden, and the Netherlands' requests to initiate a formal investigation into the interferences. However, it appealed to Russia and its alleged victims to "exercise the utmost goodwill and mutual assistance" and to organise a meeting to discuss the dispute.