WP: Russian Satellites Guided Houthi And Iraqi Militia Strikes On Saudi Arabia's Pipeline, Air Base, And CIA Station
A geospatial firm found Russian satellites converged over all 40 targets days before strikes from July to October, including the East-West Pipeline, Taif air base, a US surveillance aircraft and the CIA station in Riyadh.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Russian spy satellites helped Iranian-backed militias and Houthi forces carry out precision strikes against Saudi Arabia's most critical oil and military infrastructure, the Washington Post and Associated Press reported Wednesday with a Geneva-based geospatial intelligence firm finding a 100 percent match between Russian satellite activity and all 40 strikes it examined against Saudi Arabia between July 1 and October 19.
"What we found is a 100% match between the satellite activities and strikes," said Nawaf Obaid, founder of AURORAH Geo-signal Intelligence, who is also a fellow at King's College Department of War Studies.
His firm identified 72 Russian reconnaissance satellites out of more than 11,000 spacecraft orbiting Earth, tracked their trajectories and maneuvers, and compared them to military activity on the ground.
On September 10, multiple drone strikes from Iraq hit three critical pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's 1,200-kilometer East-West Pipeline, immediately interrupting oil flow. The pipeline has been a vital alternative route for getting Saudi crude to market amid Iran's attacks on Strait of Hormuz shipping. Beginning in July, AURORAH observed 11 of Russia's Cosmos 2600 series satellites concentrating on those three pipeline sections, with flyby frequency increasing in the weeks before the strikes and in the hours around the attacks, showing reconnaissance before and after.
A week after the pipeline attack, King Fahd Air Base in Taif was struck by multiple projectiles fired by Iranian-backed Houthis. An Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon jet was damaged, according to the Italian Defense Ministry. Notably, the strike precisely hit the Italian warplane rather than Saudi ones stationed at the same base, suggesting what Obaid described as highly specialized intelligence support that the Houthis and Iranians simply do not possess independently. AURORAH monitored a 50 percent increase in Russian satellites orbiting above both targets during the 72-hour period before and after the strikes compared with July.
An official briefed on Saudi investigations into recent attacks said intelligence showed Russian satellites also helped strikes by Iran in March on Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base, where a US surveillance aircraft was severely damaged, and on a CIA unit inside the US Embassy complex in Riyadh. Missiles and drones used in the strikes contained Russian and Chinese-made components.
AURORAH's examination of all 40 missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia between July 1 and October 19 found the same pattern in every case without exception: Russian government and military satellites orbited above the target areas for days before and after each strike. The firm has not intercepted actual intelligence transmissions, but has established a definitive pattern of satellite positioning and reconnaissance activity around strategic targets ahead of strikes, indicating intelligence collection and transfer for Houthi and Iraqi militia targeting.
Obaid said the same satellite patterns also occurred in connection with Iranian strikes on US bases in the Middle East during the conflict that began in February 2026. "That is the fundamental transformation in the regional military balance: the intelligence system behind the weapon is becoming as important as the weapon itself," he said.
Saudi Arabia's Deputy Foreign Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly told reporters last week that Iran and the Houthis receive intelligence from elements in Russia and China, even commercial elements sometimes. Russian officials had no immediate comment when asked about the allegations.