House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) has issued a stern warning about a potential “Cuban missile crisis in space” if Russia proceeds with launching a nuclear weapon into orbit.
This threat, which Turner and the U.S. have repeatedly highlighted, was discussed at a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) event on Thursday.
Turner cautioned that if Russia were to detonate a nuclear weapon in low-Earth orbit, it would result in a “catastrophic and devastating attack” on economic and social systems.
“This crisis is the Cuban missile crisis in space,” he stated, drawing a parallel to the 1962 standoff when Russia placed nuclear missiles in Cuba.
“The [Biden] administration is sleepwalking into an irreversible Day Zero,” Turner warned.
His initial alert in February about this unprecedented national security threat led the Biden administration to publicly acknowledge that Russia was developing a nuclear space weapon potentially destined for orbit.
Such an action by Russia would contravene the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in space, a treaty to which Moscow is a signatory.
Efforts by the U.S. to reaffirm the Outer Space Treaty at the United Nations Security Council were thwarted by Russia earlier this year.
Conversely, Russia’s attempt to pass a resolution banning all weapons in space was also defeated.
Last month, the Biden administration warned that Russia had launched an antisatellite weapon into space, which could be a precursor to deploying a nuclear weapon into orbit.
Turner criticized the Biden administration for not adequately addressing the nuclear space weapon threat, calling for greater transparency.
“Day Zero can be avoided. Imagine how different the world would have been if [then-President John F.] Kennedy had allowed [then-Soviet Union leader Nikita] Khrushchev to place nuclear weapons in Cuba,” Turner said.
“Europe would not be free. The United States would have been too fearful to challenge Russia in Europe.”
He urged the White House to declassify the status of Russia’s nuclear weapons, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “thrives in secrecy,” and called for NATO to enforce the Outer Space Treaty.
“The United States must stand with our allies to stop Day Zero,” Turner stated, “and preserve space as the U.N. Outer Space Treaty intended for the betterment of all mankind.”
This also comes on the heels of Russia sending a fleet to Cuba, drawing even more diret parallels to the crisis.
A group of Russian Navy ships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived in Cuba in a sign of strengthening ties between the two Cold War allies.
Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov – the first of a four-ship convoy – fired a 21-gun salute after entering Havana harbor, which was answered by the Cubans with cannon fire from an 18th-century colonial fort built by the Spanish to guard the port.
The Gorshkov is one of the Russian Navy’s most modern ships, and was followed by the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, a rescue tug, and an oil tanker.
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