The Kazakh government does not link recent kills of saiga antelopes to the launch activity at the Russian spaceport of Baikonur in central Kazakhstan.

According to Kazakhstan's Environment Minister Nurlan Kapparov, the antelopes died from a bacterial disease that has nothing to do with the toxic fuel burned by Russian space boosters.

At the same time, he reiterated that Russia should switch from boosters burning heptyl, which is highly toxic, to ones burning kerosene, which is relatively ecofriendly.

The famous Russian geostationary booster Proton burns heptyl.

Voice of Russia