US military presence in space consists of spy satellites and military communications satellites. As far as we know the US hasn't put any space-based weapons up there. There's a difference.
Russia doesn't care about the technical difference and why would they? The USA uses satellite infrastructure to exert influence, including in regions that Russia is active in and considers critical. From a Russian perspective, it is important that they have some way to counteract these capabilities.
The USA and its allies finds it very useful to paint Russia as a hostile and even unethical actor here, but there is no fundamental difference between what Russia does and what the West does.
In terms of gaining influence, sure, maybe they're ethically on par. But saying it's reasonable they're weaponizing space because "they need to counteract US capabilities" is a flawed argument. They could counteract US capabilities by investing in the education and economic well-being of their populace, which, if enacted in 2000 when Putin came into power, would have given enormous dividends to technological and military capability by now. Instead they spend their human capital luring college graduates into troll farms in Siberia with the promise of bare minimum shelter and food.
Internally, Russia is a deeply shitty regime, run by mobsters and thugs and preying on its populace. The US has a lot of problems too (and even more so since 2017) but its fundamental framework still prioritizes individual rights and freedom of expression without fear of punishment (although, unlike its allies, it doesn't do much to provide healthcare or education). I would much rather have a world that's dominated by the US than one dominated by Russia or China.
