Russian space agency mocks NATO

The Russian space agency marked the start of a key summit of NATO leaders in Madrid on Tuesday by releasing satellite images and coordinates of Western seats of power.

While the leaders of the 30 members of the US-led bloc are busy with their deliberations in the Spanish capital, “Roscosmos publishes satellite images of the proverbial ‘decision making centers’ that support Ukrainian nationalists,” the agency said in a post on social media, which included the photos. “We are providing coordinates of the sites. Just in case.”

The coordinates were the not-so-secret locations of the White House and Pentagon in the US, No. 10 Downing Street in London, the Élysée Palace in Paris, the German Chancellery in Berlin and NATO’s own headquarters in Brussels.

During the NATO summit in Madrid this week, members of the organization will adopt a new Strategic Concept of the alliance, which is expected to identify Russia as a major security threat and cite China as a concern. The bloc will discuss plans to support Ukraine against Russia, boost the militaries of member states and enlarge itself by accepting Finland and Sweden as new allies.

Earlier in June, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Al Jazeera that Moscow would strike “decision-making centers” if Kiev used the weapons it had received from the United States to attack Russian territory.

“It is obvious what those decision-making centers are: the defense ministry, the general staff and so on,” he added. “But it should be understood that, in this case, the ultimate decision-making centers are regretfully not even on the territory of Kiev.”