A flash in the sky over the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday prompted confusion and alarm as city authorities said it was caused by a NASA satellite reentering the atmosphere, but the US space agency denied involvement.
A “bright glow” was observed over Kyiv around 10:00 pm (1900 GMT), the head of Kyiv’s military administration Sergiy Popko wrote on Telegram.
An air raid alert was activated, Popko said, but “air defence was not in operation” in the besieged country fighting a Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s decision on whether to send military aid to Kyiv depends on Russia’s actions, Seoul’s presidential office said Thursday, adding that a possible large-scale civilian attack could tip the balance.
Seoul has a long-standing policy against providing weapons to countries in active conflict, which it has repeatedly said makes it difficult to supply arms directly to Ukraine.
South Korea has supported the US-led sanctions on Moscow and has sent humanitarian aid to Kyiv, while signing major arms deals—including for tanks and howitzers—with Poland.
“According to preliminary information, this phenomenon was the result of a NASA space satellite falling to Earth,” Popko said. AFP
But a NASA spokesman denied this assessment, telling AFP that the satellite in question was “still in orbit.”
The US space agency had announced this week that the retired 660-pound (300-kilogram) Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager spacecraft (RHESSI) would reenter the atmosphere on Wednesday.
“However, that reentry has not yet occurred -– RHESSI is still in orbit. NASA and the Department of Defense continue to track RHESSI. No other NASA satellite reentered the atmosphere earlier today,” a NASA spokesman told AFP.
The RHESSI spacecraft, used to observe solar flares, was launched into low Earth orbit in 2002 and decommissioned in 2018, NASA said.
The Ukrainian Air Force also said the flash was “related to the fall of a satellite/meteorite.”
Speculation and memes abounded on Ukrainian social media after videos posted to several channels showed a powerful flash lighting up the sky over Kyiv.
“While social media is amused by flying saucer memes… please do not use the official symbol of the Air Force to create memes!” the Ukrainian Air Force said.
In a statement on Monday, NASA said it expected most of the RHESSI spacecraft to burn up as it enters the atmosphere.
“But some components are expected to survive reentry,” NASA said, adding that the risk of harm to anyone on Earth was low — approximately one in 2,467.
On Thursday, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said “South Korea could not just idly stand by and watch should there be killings that the international community takes seriously”.
“What happens next depends on Russia,” a presidential official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that South Korea’s policy of not providing weapons to countries at war was not technically a law but a “voluntary” undertaking.
“Unless civilian deaths on a massive scale occur, our current position stands,” the official added.
Yoon told media this week that “if there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attack on civilians… it might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support”.
This prompted Moscow to warn Seoul Wednesday over its “unfriendly stance,” saying the start of arms supplies would mean “a certain stage of involvement” in the Ukraine conflict.
South Korea is a key US ally and a major manufacturer of artillery ammunition.
One of the recently leaked US intelligence documents portray Seoul’s security officials as being torn between its existing policies on lethal aid to conflict zones, and increasing demands from the West to secure arms for Ukraine.
One South Korean official suggested exporting ammunition to Poland to get around the policy, the document showed.
Yoon is scheduled to travel to the United States next week on a state visit.