So are Republicans saying that Russia is the bad guy or not?

Relevant:

The U.S.’s Plans to Modernize Nuclear Weapons Are Dangerous and Unnecessary

U.S. rushes to revive nuclear weapons industry as global tensions mount

A gigantic new ICBM will take US nuclear missiles out of the Cold War-era but add 21st-century risks

U.S. to Develop Unanticipated New Nuclear Bomb

U.S. Withdraws From Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

The U.S. Exit From the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Has Fueled a New Arms Race

Edit: for a dash of history, don't forget

Unilateral Withdrawal From the ABM Treaty Is a Bad Idea

Did abandoning the ABM Treaty make America safer?

If Russia is talking openly about it, I'm sure they've already done it.

Is there a reason they can't use a conventional warhead to destroy a satellite? Even if they wanted to use it to attack a surface there isn't a lot of evidence that a normal ICBM can be reliably intercepted so I doubt them being in space will change much.

Edit: *surface target

Haven't they already put cannons in space? This seems like the next logical step.

russia's space program is sort of shit these days though?