The ‘Serious National Security Threat’ Upending Washington: A Russian Space Nuke

Russia is reportedly planning to put a nuclear weapon in space, according to multiple news outlets Thursday, revealing what the cryptic “serious national security threat” the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee warned about in a statement on Wednesday was in reference to.

Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who heads the panel, publicly requested President Joe Biden declassify information about the threat, offering no additional details but writing in a letter to congressional colleagues that the urgent matter is “with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability.”

By Wednesday afternoon, House members were seen shuffling into a secure meeting space in the basement of the Capitol to review the classified information, while Biden Administration national security adviser Jake Sullivan, said at a White House press briefing that he was “a bit surprised” by Turner’s statement, noting that he had already reached out to top leaders from the House and Senate—known as the Gang of Eight—earlier this week and had a personal briefing planned for Thursday.

“That’s been on the books so I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today, in advance of a meeting on the books, for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow,” Sullivan told reporters, declining to comment further on the nature of the threat.

Asked if the public should be concerned about the unspecified threat, Sullivan said, “In a way, that question is impossible to answer with a straight ‘yes’ ... because Americans understand that there are a range of threats and challenges in the world that we’re dealing with every single day, and those threats and challenges range from terrorism to state actors, and we have to contend with them.”

The mysterious threat Turner was warning about turns out to do with Russia’s plan to put a nuclear weapon in space, potentially using it against satellites, ABC News, Bloomberg, CNN, and others reported late Wednesday and early Thursday, citing anonymous sources. The nuclear system has not been launched and there is no immediate cause for alarm, the sources say. However, if successfully deployed, the anti-satellite nuclear weapon could disrupt civilian communications as well as U.S. space surveillance systems, a former official told the New York Times, adding that the U.S. does not currently have the ability to defend against such an attack.

The information has been available to senior members of the House intelligence committee for more than a week now, so it’s unclear why Turner issued his alarming statement on Wednesday, Politico reported. The Department of Defense did not respond to TIME’s request for comment.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who described the commotion as a White House “ploy,” declined to comment on the allegations until more information is revealed from Sullivan’s Thursday briefing, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Thursday. Peskov said that it was “obvious that the White House is trying, by hook or by crook, to push Congress to vote on a bill to allocate money”—seemingly referring to the ongoing debate in Congress on whether to approve more military aid to Ukraine.

The Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed on Wednesday, before specifics were revealed, that it has “been rigorously tracking this issue from the start” and is “discussing an appropriate response with the administration,” per a note from Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the committee’s chair, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the committee’s vice chair. The Senate is currently on a two-week recess. “In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.”

Several House lawmakers said Wednesday that the announcement should not cause panic, but declined to provide any new details. “We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican. “Beyond that, I’m not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much more, but we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it, and there’s no need for alarm.”

“People should not panic — that is unequivocal. People should not panic,” Rep. Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat and the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters. “I don’t want people thinking that martians are landing or that your Wednesday is going to be ruined. But it is something that the Congress and the administration does need to address in the medium to long run.”

Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com.