Russian forces massing on three sides of Ukraine, new satellite images appear

Maxar's satellite images show new deployments of Russian forces

New satellite images from Maxar show that Russia continues to increase military power in Crimea, Belarus and western Russia – additional equipment and troops are arriving. Maxar assesses that more than 550 troop tents and hundreds of vehicles have arrived at the site. Other sites in Crimea have also seen an influx of troops and equipment, including at Novoozernoye, where there have been extensive artillery deployments and training exercises.

Buzzfeed correspondent Christopher Miller reported this on Twitter.

In the morning of February 10, a new large deployment of troops and equipment was observed at the Oktyabrskoye airfield in Crimea: more than 550 military tents and hundreds of units of equipment arrived at the abandoned airfield north of Simferopol.

Additional equipment continues to arrive, and preparations to deploy additional troops and equipment are underway.

Majorities across the EU believe Russia to invade Ukraine in 2022, a recent European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) survey shows. Poles are among the most pessimistic nations – 73% of respondents believe the war is very likely or quite likely.

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On February 10, large-scale exercises of the Russian and Belarusian armies with the use of heavy military equipment began in Belarus. Ukraine’s Western partners fear that Russia could use these exercises as a pretext to attack Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is conducting training in the Voronezh region and plans to conduct drills in the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine. It is also reported that the Russian-occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea will be reinforced.

In addition, Russia is blocking Black, Azov Seas, Kerch Strait waters under the pretext of naval drills. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has voiced a strong protest against such Russia’s steps.

Read also: Ukraine begins Blizzard-2022 defense drills Russia is considering nonessential embassy staff withdrawal from Ukraine.

President Joe Biden told American citizens to get out of Ukraine immediately and insisted that US troops will not be involved in any rescue missions if Russia invades.

Read also: Number of troops at Ukraine-Russia border gradually increasing, – Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba

World leaders, meanwhile, continued their frenzied diplomacy to defuse the current crisis over Ukraine – leaders and highest diplomats of France, UK, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, Slovakia, Romania, and other countries have visited Ukraine during the last few weeks to show their solidarity with Kyiv and give a clear warning signal to Putin.