Russia reacts angrily to reports of hole drilled on space station

Russia on Wednesday reacted angrily to a report that it suspects US astronauts of deliberately drilling a hole on the International Space Station, one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between the countries.

The hole was detected on the ISS last month and quickly sealed up, but Russia has suggested that it was drilled deliberately.

Russian daily Kommersant reported Wednesday that a Russian space agency investigation is probing the possibility US astronauts deliberately drilled the hole in order to get a sick colleague sent back home.

Kommersant reported that this scenario was being looked into “as a priority,” quoting a source participating in the investigation.

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But Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov rejected Kommersant’s report, saying that “it is absolutely unacceptable to cast a shadow either on our cosmonauts or on American astronauts,” RIA Novosti state news agency reported.

The deputy prime minister said it was “shortsighted and dangerous” to speculate until the findings of the investigation were released.

He also stressed the ISS was “a unified group where there are no political disagreements.”

Astronauts located the hole on August 30 in a Russian-made spacecraft docked to the ISS after an air leak was detected on-board, and closed it up with sealant.

Space agency Chief Dmitry Rogozin told journalists last week that the hole could have been a deliberate act of sabotage and suggested this could have happened in space as well as back on Earth.

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