Putin fires his Russian Space Agency boss amid ‘failures’ over missiles and satellites
Putin fires his Russian Space Agency boss amid ‘failures’ over missiles and satellites
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Vladimir Putin’s Russian Space Agency boss has been fired after a “catastrophic” number of launch failures of missiles, satellites and rockets in recent years. Yury Borisov, 68, an ex-deputy premier and close ally, was replaced at the space agency, known as Roscosmos, by deputy transport minister Dmitry Bakanov, 39, who is seen as an expert on satellites and unmanned transport. Borisov is said to have paid the price for a “catastrophic reduction in the number of launches, as well as incidents and accidents with serious consequences” in space over the last two and a half years.
There was also fury at Russia’s failure to raise into orbit as many military satellites as needed to compete with Western satellite intelligence handed to Ukraine. Putin had in 2022 fired another close ally Dmitry Rogozin as head of the space agency. Rogozin has clawed his way back as a senator for a region of occupied Ukraine, but only after spending time on the frontline in the war. A key failure for both men was the doomsday Sarmat - aka Satan-2 - missile, Russia's largest weapon.
Under Borisov, also a former deputy defence minister, a test in September 2024 exploded on the launch at Plesetsk cosmodrome leaving a 200ft wide crater. A year earlier, Borisov had reported to Putin that the giant missile was on combat duty. The monster hypersonic missile is designed to strike the West by flying over the North or South Poles, making it impossible to strike down by air defences. Putin has boasted that the apocalypse 208-ton intercontinental silo-launched 15,880mph nuclear weapon, the size of a 14-storey tower block, is “unstoppable” by the West.
Last month a military expert warned Russia is on the brink of "collapse" and the world needs to prepare for potential nuclear chaos inside the country. Retired general Ben Hodges, who once served as commander of the United States Army in Europe, suggested Vladimir Putin 's country could break up into several small states as its days as a unified republic are numbered. The former senior US military commander, who has been a regular commentator on Russia 's war in Ukraine , warned if this happened, it could cause a new wave of refugees and potential nuclear chaos. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian combat losses amount to 812,670 troops, although this number hasn't been confirmed by Putin and estimates vary.
