KYIV (Parliament Politics Magazine) – As pressure mounts on Ukraine from three angles, new satellite photos provided by a tech company based in the US, appear to show continued buildup of Russian military in Crimea, western Russia, and Belarus, underlining suspicions that the Kremlin is contemplating an invasion into the territory of Ukraine.
According to a senior director at Maxar, Stephen Wood, photos collected Thursday revealed a massive deployment of equipment and troops in Crimea. The base is located north of the Crimean capital, Simferopol, at the formerly abandoned Oktyabrskoye airstrip.
More than 550 army tents and hundreds of vehicles have arrived at the site, according to Maxar. Other locations in Crimea have also experienced an inflow of personnel and weaponry, such as Novoozernoye, where there have been considerable weapon deployments and training drills.
Maxar discovered a new deployment, including armoured vehicles, near Slavne on Crimea’s northwest shore for the first time.
Numerous Russian warships, including big amphibious landing ships, arrived in Crimea’s major port, Sevastopol, on the very day of the additional deployments in Crimea.
Maxar saw a “new buildup of troops, military equipment, and helicopters” near Gomel, Belarus, at the Zyabrovka airfield, some 15 miles (25 kilometres) from the Ukrainian border. Helicopters have never been spotted in the area before. There looks to be a field hospital on the premises as well.
In addition, troops and multiple combat groups remain stationed near Rechitsa, Belarus, which is less than 30 miles (45 kilometres) from the Ukrainian border. Satellite imagery had already revealed the presence of tent encampments near Rechitsa.
They suggest a rising Russian presence in the area, which is around 200 miles (320 kilometres) east of where joint Russian-Belarus exercises began on Thursday, when paired with recent videos.
Russian military units have been seen moving near the cities of Kursk, Rostov-on-Don, and Bryansk in the east of Ukraine in recent days, according to social media recordings.
A substantial deployment of troops and armed forces” has arrived recently in the Kursk training area to the east of the city — around 110 kilometres (75 miles) east of the border with Ukraine, according to Maxar.
More equipment and troops continue to come in the area, and plans in progress to make arrangements of their accommodation, Maxar added.
