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A senior Russian government official raised the possibility that Moscow could shoot down commercial Western satellites being used to help Ukraine's war effort, as Russia pressed ahead with its bombing campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure.

If acted on, the threat would inevitably raise fears about spiralling escalation of the eight-month-old conflict and the risk of direct confrontation between Russia and the West.

There was no immediate reaction from the United States or commercial satellite providers.

Konstantin Vorontsov, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, said the use of Western satellites to aid the Ukrainian war effort was "an extremely dangerous trend".