By Peter Zeihan

Previously, I talked about how Ukraine has been targeting Russian air infrastructure to prepare for the arrival of their F-16s. Well, Ukraine launched a rocket attack on occupied Crimea and destroyed some air defenses and one of Russia’s deep space satellite communication stations.

The loss of that deep space satellite communication station is the focus for today. This isn’t great news for Russia’s already struggling civilian space program, given they’ve depleted their old ICBMs used for satellite launches. This will also reduce tracking and communication with Russia’s military satellites, which complicates things for any other nations relying on Russia for maintenance or launches. The final kicker is that Russia’s GLONASS system – their version of GPS used in precision-guided munitions like glide bombs – could be jeopardized or degraded.

This attack could significantly impact Russian capabilities, but we’ll have to wait for final reports to determine the full extent of the damage and impacts.

Peter Zeihan is a world expert in geopolitics: the study of how place impacts financial, economic, cultural, political, and military developments.

He presents customized executive briefings to a wide array of audiences including financial professionals, Fortune 500 firms, energy investors, and a mix of industrial, power, agricultural, and consulting associations and corporations.

Mr. Zeihan has been featured in, and cited by, numerous newspapers and broadcasts including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, AP, Bloomberg, CNN, ABC, The New York Times, Fox News, and MarketWatch.