At Least Three Chinese Reconnaissance Satellites Recorded Over Lviv Region During Russian Strike

During the Russian missile and drone strike on October 5th, at least three Chinese reconnaissance SAR satellites flew over western Ukraine, the main target of the attack.

The data were obtained by Militarnyi after analyzing data by Heavens-Above, the monitoring service that tracks satellite movements.

In particular, the satellites of the Yaogan 33 series — Yaogan 33, Yaogan 33-03 and Yaogan 33-04 — were recorded over the Lviv region. Together, they made nine passes over the area between midnight and about 11:30 a.m.

At around 6 a.m., the optical Yaogan 34 reconnaissance satellite also entered Ukrainian airspace. It is expected to make seven orbits over the region during October 5th.

It is worth noting that Chinese reconnaissance satellites fly not only over western Ukraine. In total, the orbital parameters of more than 60 Yaogan-series satellites allow operations over the country. These satellites are capable of optical, radar, and electronic reconnaissance.

The satellites of this series are placed in low Earth orbit, at an altitude of about 700 kilometres, allowing them to complete a full rotation around the planet roughly every 90 minutes.

Little reliable information is available about the capabilities of Yaogan 33 satellites. According to China’s official position, they are used for scientific experiments, land resource research, and disaster prevention. However, they are widely believed to be military reconnaissance satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), similar to ICEYE systems.

Yaogan 33 satellites, launched in 2022–2023, replaced first-generation SAR reconnaissance satellites Yaogan-1, which had been in orbit since 2006.

It is known, that the Yaogan-1 satellite was equipped with an L-band SAR system operating in two modes: high-resolution imaging with 5-meter spatial resolution and a 40-kilometer swath, or lower-resolution imaging with 20-meter resolution and a 100-kilometer swath.

Given the 15-plus-year gap between Yaogan-1 and Yaogan 33, it can be assumed that the newer satellites possess far superior capabilities, likely comparable to modern Western reconnaissance systems.

At the same time, it remains unclear whether these satellites conducted active reconnaissance during their passes over Ukraine.

Russian-Chinese cooperation

In early October 2025, Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reported evidence that China had provided Russia with satellite reconnaissance data for missile strikes on Ukraine, including against facilities owned by foreign investors.

“There are facts indicating a high level of interaction between Russia and China in conducting satellite reconnaissance of Ukrainian territory to identify and further target strategic sites for destruction. As we have seen in recent months, some of these sites belong to foreign investors,” said Oleh Alexandrov, a representative of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, in a comment to Ukrinform news agency.

The service declined to provide further details about the specific targets in Ukraine struck using Chinese reconnaissance data.

Reports that China was supplying Russia with intelligence from its own satellites, later used in the war against Ukraine, first emerged in 2024. At that time, however, the extent of cooperation remained unclear.

According to U.S. intelligence, China provides Russia with ‘all necessary intelligence information.’ These data are reportedly used both in the war against Ukraine and to monitor NATO troop movements in Europe.

It is also known that in 2022 a company linked to the Wagner Group purchased two Chinese reconnaissance satellites for intelligence operations, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), citing documents reviewed by the agency.

China sold Wagner two high-resolution surveillance satellites owned by the Chinese space company Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST). The satellites were used not only in support of operations in Ukraine, but also in Wagner’s activities in Africa.

According to the contract, the deal was signed on November 15th, 2022, between Beijing Yunze Technology Co. and Nika-Fruit LLC, which at the time was part of the business network of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The contract was valued at over $30 million (CNY235 million yuan). In addition to the satellites themselves, it included the provision of supplementary services, such as on-demand imagery from other satellites within the CGST network.