The Russian Space Agency announced today, Saturday, that the United States of America is considering isolating Moscow from the GPS system, as part of a wave of sanctions affecting Moscow in response to the military operation in Ukraine.
She said that the GPS, "GLONASS", would be an alternative to GPS if Russia was isolated from it.
It is noteworthy that the "Glonass" system (Global Navigation Satellite - Glonass), is a Soviet-Russian system designed at the request of the Soviet Ministry of Defense at the time.
The system is dedicated to ensuring fast and safe navigation, and to provide unlimited support to users in the air, land, sea and space. All Russians and foreigners are entitled to use the civilian "GLONASS" system free of charge.
The system currently consists of 24 satellites orbiting in three orbital planes, 19,400 km in height and 64.8 degrees inclined, equally distributed in levels (8 in each level), to cover the entire surface of the globe, while 18 satellites are sufficient to cover the entire area of Russia.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, days after it recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, which was met with angry international reactions, most of them from the European Union and NATO, in addition to sanctions that affected several sectors, with the aim of deterring Moscow.
Russia overtook Iran and North Korea in less than two weeks, to become the most sanctioned country in the world, following the military operation launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The total number of sanctions imposed on it reached more than 5,530 penalties, according to Bloomberg Agency, exceeding that of Tehran, which imposed 3,616 penalties over a decade, mostly because of its nuclear program and its support for terrorism.
During the past days, Switzerland imposed about 568 penalties, the European Union 518, and France issued 512 penalties, followed by Britain and the United States with about 243 penalties.
Many countries are still announcing on a daily basis new sanctions against the Russians, which prompted the Kremlin last week to acknowledge that these sanctions are harsh and painful, but at the same time, he stressed that his country will respond and will find ways to address the repercussions of this "Western campaign", as described by Moscow.
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