Chinese satellites flew synchronously over the Lviv region during the Russian attack, according to media reports.

Marta Gichko17:29, 05.10.25

During the massive Russian attack over the Lviv region, the flight of Chinese Yaogan series satellites, which are capable of conducting military reconnaissance from orbit, was detected.

During the massive Russian missile and drone attack on October 5, at least three Chinese reconnaissance satellites were detected flying over western Ukraine, particularly the Lviv region . This was reported by Militarnye , citing data from the Heavens Above monitoring service, which tracks the movements of spacecraft.

Nine overflights of the Yaogan 33 series satellites—Yaogan 33, Yaogan 33-03, and Yaogan 33-04—were recorded over the region overnight and into the morning. They passed over Lviv from midnight to 11:30 a.m.

Around 6:00 a.m., the Yaogan 34 optical satellite also entered the region, making seven orbits over Ukrainian territory during the day.

In total, more than 60 Yaogan series satellites of various types, capable of conducting optical, radar, and electronic reconnaissance, are capable of operating over Ukraine. They fly at an altitude of approximately 700 km, completing a full orbit around the Earth approximately every 90 minutes.

Despite China’s official claims that the satellites are used for “scientific research” and “natural disaster monitoring,” experts believe that Yaogan are military vehicles with SAR (synthetic aperture radar) systems similar to ICEYE.

What is known about the Yaogan 33 series?

The Yaogan 33 satellites will be launched in 2022-2023, replacing the older first-generation Yaogan-1 models (2006).

The first satellites in the series featured L-band SAR with a resolution of up to 5 meters in high-precision mode. Given the technological advances over the past 15 years, experts believe the Yaogan 33 satellites have significantly improved performance, approaching that of modern Western reconnaissance satellites.

It is not yet known whether the Chinese satellites were actually conducting reconnaissance during the attack on Ukraine, but the fact that they flew in sync has raised concerns among analysts.

(C)UNIAN 2025