 for media reports that claimed, citing NASA, that a Russian military satellite had exploded in orbit and that its fragments threatened the international space station."
Davydov admitted that "there have been vehicles of this type in the past that exploded," but not this time. He blamed the rumors on Western spies: "For some reason, questions of this kind didn't arise in the years when this was happening. ... These days there are such questions all of a sudden. Our interpretation is very simple: there is certain interest in vehicles of this class that are used in the interests of our Defense Ministry."
But as Wednesday's rocket firing showed, Western interest in the satellite's debris cloud was entirely prudent.
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