Dmitry Rogozin, the newly appointed head of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos, suggested on Monday that a leak detected at the International Space Station (ISS) may have been an act of sabotage. Rogozin claimed during a press conference that “a wavering hand” was possibly responsible for the puncture, and asked: "What is this: a production defect or some premeditated action?"

The leak was detected last Wednesday by ground controllers in Houston and Moscow, while the ISS crew was asleep. Since it posed no immediate threat, the ground team waited until the crew woke up to inform them. On Thursday, the astronauts and cosmonauts tracked down the puncture to the Russian Soyuz MS-09 capsule docked to the ISS. The two-millimeter hole in the hull of the spacecraft, which is responsible for ferrying humans to and from Earth, was patched with tape, and then sealed twice with epoxy.

Initial reports about the leak suggested that a micrometeorite may have torn through the Soyuz hull. But Rogozin said he ruled out the micrometeorite theory since the puncture appeared to have been created from inside the capsule. He insinuated that it could have been drilled into the hull, accidentally or on purpose, either during the Soyuz’s preparation phase on Earth or perhaps even by an ISS crew member in space.

An anonymous source quoted in Russian news agency RIA Novosti said that "the appearance of a hole” was due to “negligence.” The source claimed an Energia employee might have punctured the hull, and sealed it with glue to help the spacecraft pass pressurization tests before it was launched.