The Russian president says it would "significantly change" the nature of the Ukraine conflict and amount to "nothing less than direct involvement of NATO countries".
While a Kessler syndrome wouldn't be pretty, recent studies determine that it wouldn't be as devastating or impacting to space flight or missions as has been previously thought, and would clear up relatively fast or easily.
Right, it's mostly just bad PR. I do expect Russia would do this in case of a direct conflict with NATO though. Western weaponry is very dependent on satellites, while Russian weapons tend to use laser guidance for targeting. So, losing satellites would be far worse outcome for NATO.
While a Kessler syndrome wouldn't be pretty, recent studies determine that it wouldn't be as devastating or impacting to space flight or missions as has been previously thought, and would clear up relatively fast or easily.
Still wouldn't be recommended to try, though
Right, it's mostly just bad PR. I do expect Russia would do this in case of a direct conflict with NATO though. Western weaponry is very dependent on satellites, while Russian weapons tend to use laser guidance for targeting. So, losing satellites would be far worse outcome for NATO.