Russia releases video of Space Station breaking after threatening to crash it

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a multitude of sanctions from most of the world, much to the ire of Russia. After countries like the United States decided to freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs, the country responded with a variety of threats.

One of these threats, as stated by Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, was to crash the International Space Station. Over a week later, that threat is still looming, this time paired with a big dose of propaganda videos.

Russia releases Space Station propaganda video

Via NASA Watch, Russian space agency Roscosmos has created a propaganda video of the International Space Station. Originally posted on Telegram by Russian state media RIA Novosti, the video shows Russia leaving the ISS.

The propaganda video shows Russian cosmonauts saying goodbye to the rest of the ISS. After the cosmonauts day their goodbyes, they enter the Russian section of the ISS. Afterwards, the section detaches from the ISS.

The video treats this departure as a huge, positive move. Classical music swells as the cosmonauts leave before the video switches to mission control. As the section detaches, mission control erupts into celebration.

Russia's propaganda video ends with a black scream and a statement: “This video is based on unreal events”.

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Crashing the ISS

The Russian threat crash the International Space Station may not come to fruition. However, threat or empty threat, it’s a terrifying possibility that Russia may or may not decide act on. But what will leaving the ISS do?

If Russian cosmonauts depart the ISS, taking their section with them, the International Space Station will crash. While it may take years, the ISS will eventually de-orbit and crash back to Earth in a unplanned scenario.

NASA is already planning on crashing the International Space Station in 2031. However, this will be a controlled scenario that will see the station crash into the ocean. While the decommission of the Station is upsetting, at least it will be safe.

If Russia departs from the ISS, the International Space Station may end up hitting a populated area. While there are ways to save it, the Russian departure would still be an end of almost two decades of collaboration.