A new Russian satellite is “small,” “nimble” and “has the potential to bring the world’s economy to its knees,” News Corps Australia said on August 16.

The statements came two days after the United States State Department’s Yleem Poblete told a United Nations conference that the satellite’s behavior was “abnormal” and “inconsistent with anything seen before.”

“We don’t know for certain what it is, and there is no way to verify it,” Poblete said, referring to Russia’s Kosmos 2523 satellite. “But Russian intentions with respect to this satellite are unclear and are obviously a very troubling development.”

Russia claims Kosmos 2523, whose parent satellite is the Kosmos 2519, is merely an inspection satellite designed to help engineers on the ground determine whether other satellites in orbit may be in need of maintenance. But Poblete said its behavior has been unlike that of any previous inspection satellites.

The details of Kosmos 2523’s “very troubling” behavior have not been made public. But if Russia has a satellite that can be maneuvered in orbit to interact with other satellites, it could possibly be used against the satellites of other nations, nudging them off course, damaging or capturing them, or fastening spy equipment to them.

Russia is also developing other methods for attacking satellites. “The Russian Ministry of Defense recently announced that its Space Troops have received a mobile laser system which Vladimir Putin announced to the world on March 1 of this year,” Poblete said. “Russia’s leader himself alluded to space weapons being ‘more acceptable in the political and military respect.’” So it appears the Russian military now has an operational ground-based laser system designed to destroy satellites.

Poblete’s concern about Russia’s anti-satellite technologies is well founded, considering that the U.S. has hundreds of satellites in orbit that it depends on for a wide-range of activities, such as weather monitoring, cable and network television broadcasting, and many telephone and Internet technologies. Satellites also enable businesses to perform such tasks as real-time international inventory management, instant credit card authorization, banking services and communication between locations across the globe. Perhaps most importantly, the U.S. military relies on satellites for reconnaissance, communication, navigation and targeting systems.

Steve Lambakis, an international affairs analyst specializing in space power, said last year, “U.S. space systems are among the most fragile and vulnerable assets operated by the U.S. military. … This vulnerable communications and data collection, processing, and distribution infrastructure is worth billions of dollars and is vital to nearly every activity of the United States and, increasingly, the armed forces of U.S. allies.”

Our booklet Russia and China in Prophecy analyzes the rising military might of Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the threat it poses to the U.S., saying, “It is evident that both Russian and Chinese officials are working to form a new alliance and counter American dominance of world affairs.”

The booklet discusses numerous scriptures showing that the rise of Russia now underway was prophesied in the Bible millennia ago. Passages in Ezekiel 38 and 39, Daniel 11, Matthew 24, Revelation 9:16 and 16:12 show that modern Russia, along with China, will soon play a major role in the most destructive war mankind has ever suffered. The increasing military power of these countries, including Russia’s new anti-satellite technologies, is setting the stage for this prophesied global war.

And, as editor in chief Gerald Flurry emphasized in the June 1999 Trumpet, America’s “Achilles’ heel” of technology dependence means it will be vulnerable.

To understand these Bible prophecies and how they are being fulfilled in today’s headlines, order your free copy of Russia and China in Prophecy.