New Delhi: Satellite images show new deployment of the Russian military in areas near the Ukrainian border, amid fears that Russia is about to invade Ukraine.
Tuesday, the Russian parliament voted to allow President Vladimir Putin to use the army outside the country to support separatists in Ukraine.
The pictures, collected by Maxar over the past 24 hours, show deployment and movement of additional logistics and supplies in southern Belarus and at multiple sites in western Russia near the Ukrainian border.
The new activity includes more than 100 vehicles and dozens of troop tents at a small airfield near Mozyr in southern Belarus. The airfield is located less than 40 kilometers from the Ukraine border.
A large area is being cleared for additional deployment near Pochep in Western Russia. A new field hospital has been set up at a military garrison on the western outskirts of Belgorod. Several new troops and equipment have been deployed in rural areas southwest of Belgorod, less than 20 kilometers from the Ukraine border.
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Heavy equipment transporters (HETs), which are used for transporting tanks, artillery, and heavy equipment were seen approximately 40 kilometers to the east of the border with Ukraine.
Russia has placed more than 150,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders in recent weeks, the United States and Western allies have estimated, with Washington warning an invasion is imminent.
In response, several countries, including the US, have imposed sanctions on Russia. The US is also sending its troops into NATO member nations in Eastern Europe.
Russia denies it has plans to attack its western neighbour but is seeking a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the Western alliance remove forces from Eastern Europe.