Russian military confirms classified satellite launch from Plesetsk

Russia launched a classified military satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on August 24, the country’s Ministry of Defense said, a day after Ukrainian drones reached the surrounding Arkhangelsk region in an apparent attempt to disrupt the launch. A Soyuz-2-1b rocket lifted off from Site 43, Pad 3, at 05:40 Moscow time.

Russian officials said the payload, listed only under the generic designation “Kosmos,” reached orbit as planned and that ground stations established telemetry contact with the satellite. The Ministry of Defense did not identify the spacecraft’s mission or specifications.

Ukrainian and Russian monitoring channels reported drones over Arkhangelsk region on August 23, with local officials describing the targets as “strategic facilities.” The Russian monitoring channel Locator Russia said at least two drones reached the vicinity of Plesetsk, and residents in the area filmed footage of drones overhead, according to the Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi. Governor Alexander Tsybulsky of Arkhangelsk region ordered residents to take shelter and said mobile internet service would be suspended, without disclosing the outcome of the attack. Russian authorities said 40 drones were shot down over the region in total.

It was the first reported case of Ukrainian drones reaching Arkhangelsk region, according to Militarnyi. Roscosmos director general Dmitry Bakanov said in April that Ukrainian forces had previously attempted a drone attack on Plesetsk during preparations for a March 25 satellite launch, an attack he said Russian space and air defense units repelled.

Plesetsk is Russia’s primary launch site for military satellites and has also been used to test the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, according to Militarnyi. The site has hosted multiple Soyuz-2 and Angara rocket launches in 2026 carrying military satellites and batches of Rassvet-series communications satellites, built by the Russian company Bureau 1440.

Similar warnings reappeared in mid-August for a period between August 19 and August 30, overlapping with separate restriction notices tied to a presumed Angara-1.2 launch. On August 15, authorities in the Komi Republic announced closures of the Vashka and Zheleznodorozhny rocket-debris impact zones, sites previously used for GLONASS satellite launches on Soyuz rockets, without specifying an exact launch window beyond “the second half of August.” A similar warning followed on August 21 from officials in the Tyumen region regarding a debris impact zone in the Uvatsky district.