A Russian military satellite came very close to a US-owned commercial satellite in orbit this month, according to Space.com and Ars Technica. Russia now says the satellite is "purely peaceful."

The Russian craft, Kosmos 2612, met up with a satellite called ICEYE-X36 between October 15 and October 19, Space.com reported. At one point, the satellites may have been just a few meters apart, the site said. Satellite trackers, not governments, first reported it.

ICEYE-X36 uses radar to take pictures of Earth, Space.com reported. It is run by the US arm of ICEYE, a company based in Finland. Some ICEYE satellites send images to Ukraine, the site said. ICEYE signed a deal with Ukraine's military in January.

Kosmos 2612 launched in April, Space.com reported. Since then it made a series of carefully planned moves to match the US satellite's orbit, Ars Technica said. The satellites were about 340 miles above Earth.

On Wednesday, a US State Department official, Brian Hardesty, raised the issue at a United Nations committee, Ars Technica reported. He said Russia's moves "appear consistent with an on-orbit weapons operation." He called them "deliberately reckless."

Moments later, Russian diplomat Konstantin Vorontsov said the US concerns were "unfounded," Ars Technica reported. All Russian activity in space is "purely peaceful in character," he said, and "this applies" to Kosmos 2612.

But in 2022, Vorontsov said commercial satellites used by Ukraine's military could be a "legitimate target for a retaliatory strike," Ars Technica reported.

Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit, said Russia has made close passes near US spy satellites before, Space.com reported. But those passes were far less close. The purpose of this one is still not known, she said. She thinks Russia may be showing off its strength in a way Ukraine cannot answer.

What we know: Kosmos 2612 came very close to a US commercial satellite in mid-October.
What we don't: What Russia wanted from the close pass.