Israel’s recent bombardment of Lebanon was clearly visible with “the naked eye” from space, a Russian cosmonaut based at the time on the international space station said on Monday.
“Of course it was visible. You know, all negative human activities, in particular military operations, are immediately visible from space,” said cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, during a press conference at the Star City space facility, just outside of Moscow.
Vinogradov was speaking three days after returning to Earth following a six-month International Space Station mission.
“Of course we saw the fires, especially when it was a big city, it was very easily visible, even without our instruments. You could see it with the naked eye,” Vinogradov continued.
“We took many photographs of the Lebanese coast and of Israel, especially during that period,” he said referring to the fighting in July and August that left about 1Â 200 Lebanese citizens and 162 Israelis dead.
“Petrol fires, oil slicks, perhaps we are used to spotting things, but it is immediately identifiable in Lebanon among other places,” he added. — AFP