Space Forces Chief on Funding, Baykonur

This document is a transcript of an interview conducted by D. Makarov with V. Ivanov, the commander of the Military Space Forces, published in the Russian newspaper ARGUMENTY I FAKTY in April 1993. The primary focus of the interview is the status of the Russian Military Space Forces following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ivanov discusses the logistical and political challenges of maintaining space infrastructure, specifically the Baykonur launch site in Kazakhstan, and the distribution of command-measurement complexes across former Soviet republics including Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. He highlights the financial difficulties, noting that the budget for 1993 had not yet been approved by the Supreme Soviet and that the space forces were struggling with staffing and maintenance. Toward the end of the interview, the conversation shifts to the topic of UFOs. Ivanov recounts a personal experience from his time as the chief of a space vehicle launching site, where a general approached him with data on unidentified objects. Ivanov notes that these phenomena appeared to coincide with rocket launches from Plesetsk. He further mentions an incident approximately five years prior where three unidentified objects were tracked on radar at high altitude near Baykonur. Ivanov concludes by stating that he is interested in the problem and cannot deny the possibility of the existence of UFOs, as many others do.