Tension is brewing between Ukraine and Russia. From the past few months, Ukraine’s Western allies have been warning that signs of war have become evident since Russian troops are amassing near the borders of Ukraine.
Russia has been unhappy with Ukraine’s move to join NATO, however Russia denies of having any plans to attack Ukraine. According to BBC, Russian President, Vladimir Putin has threatened “appropriate retaliatory military-technical measures” if what he calls the West’s aggressive approach continues. Ukraine’s president has appealed to the West not to spread “panic”.
Over the past couple of months, military equipment/units have been deployed at or near a number of garrisons and to existing military training areas within Russia, Crimea and adjacent to the border with Ukraine. However, in most cases, few troops or new housing for additional personnel were observed near the deployments suggesting that some of the units may have been pre-positioned or forward deployed.
During the past couple of weeks, several new significant military deployments have been observed in Belarus. Also, troop tents/shelters for personnel have been seen at virtually every deployment location in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia which suggests that the units are now accompanied with troops and have increased their overall readiness level; moreover, local military training activity (including live-fire artillery and maneuver training) has been observed in progress at numerous training areas.
Maxar has collected recent, high-resolution satellite imagery of multiple Russian military deployments in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia that reflect an increased level of activity and readiness.
Here is an extensive gallery of Maxar satellite images that cover the recent deployments and activity in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia:
