Ivan Khomenko

In one legendary sortie, 25-year-old Ukrainian drone operator Andrii “Skiba” armed with just a single Mavic 3T and 60 F‑1 grenades, eliminated 40 Russian combatants and wounded another 40 in a single day—a feat that reshaped the front line forever.

The space race didn’t end—it just went quiet. Over the past decade, Russia has been building a shadow fleet of satellites designed not to explore, but to watch, follow, and potentially interfere with others in orbit. Now, as new “inspector” satellites maneuver near key US assets, questions are growing about Moscow’s real ambitions above Earth.