Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network and co-founder of the Consortium for Defense Information, shared his opinions on Espreso TV.How extensive is China’s assistance to Russia in intelligence, and what capabilities can the PRC generally offer in this area today? The expert notes that the United States has already flagged transfers of satellite information from China to Russia, imposing sanctions in 2023 on Spacety Luxembourg SA, a subsidiary of the Chinese company Spacety. Spacety provided satellite imagery taken over Ukraine to the Russian company Terra Tech, and those images were subsequently used by Wagner PMC units during operations in the Donbas. In April 2025 the U.S. accused the Chinese company Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd. (CGSTL) of transferring intelligence data to the Houthis.“Russia itself currently operates about 160 active satellites, of which up to 100 perform military functions. However, collaboration between the RF and China clearly produces a synergetic effect for both countries of the ‘axis of evil’ — they gain better military navigation, improved communications, and higher-quality and broader coverage of the Earth’s surface for gathering intelligence, including for target designation to carry out strikes,” Samus comments.For its part, since 2022 Ukraine has been building its satellite reconnaissance capabilities on the basis of information from the United States and other NATO allies, albeit with regular political and technical caveats.The expert recalls that in 2022–2024 the U.S. gave Ukraine unprecedented access to satellite data: direct procurement of commercial SAR, funding of commercial imagery within U.S. aid packages, and integration of intelligence into our combat management system. And in March 2025 the U.S. abruptly “paused” intelligence sharing and access to commercial imagery channels (GEGD/Maxar), which negatively affected our capabilities for planning and conducting deep strikes on Russian territory. “Although the U.S. resumed information transfers after some time, this situation revealed the vulnerability of Ukraine’s dependence on the United States. At present, our partners provide us with critically important satellite information, but its dependence on political moods and financial instruments requires the creation of Ukraine’s own backbone of space intelligence,” Samus states.He notes that Ukraine has been able to integrate the flow of partner information into combat cycles and use it effectively to strike Russian targets, but without a stable, sovereign access to space intelligence, the Defense Forces of Ukraine cannot fully realize the potential of existing and prospective precision weapons, operational-tactical troop coordination, and strategic deterrence of Russia.“In other words, Ukraine needs to create a full-fledged space infrastructure that would include national launch systems, a space constellation in orbit, ground complexes, and an appropriate regulatory and legal framework,” the expert comments.“Overall, in light of the Chinese-Russian space duet, which is already beginning to pose a direct threat to Ukraine and NATO through the joint use of military satellites for target designation for missile and drone strikes, the creation by Ukraine of its own Space Forces with the corresponding infrastructure looks not only logical but urgent. Forming an integrated system for acquiring and using space intelligence for operational and strategic employment by the Defense Forces of Ukraine will give Ukraine new capabilities and undoubtedly greater resilience in resisting Russian aggression. At the same time, the expected complexity and obvious resource intensity of this process require maintaining and expanding cooperation with the United States and European partners in the field of space intelligence,” Mykhailo Samus concludes.