Satellite photos reveal buildup of Russian forces on Ukraine border
At first glance it looks like an ordinary map. But a closer inspection reveals a sinister plot is afoot - which could endanger the world.
A build-up of Russian, troops, tanks and equipment on its border with Ukraine is increasing fears of invasion as fighting flares in the east of the country.
Ukrainian media is reporting fresh commercially-available satellite photos reveal several heavy IL-76 cargo aircraft flying into the Dzhankoi air base in occupied Crimea.
The peninsula, part of Ukraine, was seized by Russian special forces in 2014. Moscow-backed insurgents have been fighting Kiev government forces in the east of the country ever since — often with blatant Russian military backing.
But since Moscow moved to close the sea of Azov to Ukrainian shipping a week ago, Kiev has been on heightened alert for an outright invasion — declaring martial law in its troubled border regions.
Reports of four heavy-lifting Il-76 aircraft, used for the rapid deployment of troops and heavy military equipment, flying into Dzhankoi near the Ukraine border from Anapa have added to those fears. The 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division, an elite which also took part in the seizure of Crimea, is based at Novorossiysk — close to Anapa.
Dzhankoi air base was reinforced last week by a fourth mobile brigade of advanced S-400 ‘Triumph’ surface-to-air missiles. The missiles reportedly have a range of some 400km and can reach 30km high, giving Moscow the ability to deny access to the region by aircraft and cruise missiles.
Defence analysts have also scoured photos available on Google Earth to reveal a build-up of 100s of Russian main battle tanks at freshly built or expanded facilities right on the border with Ukraine. Masses of trucks, tanks and stores have been assembled at facilities including Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast.
Ukrainian media reports large numbers of Russian armoured infantry vehicles have also been seen crossing Moscow’s controversial Kerch Bridge into Crima.
Ukrainian General Viktor Muzhenko told media last week that the strength of Russian troops facing Ukraine was at the highest levels it had been since Moscow invaded and occupied Crimea in 2014. “In front of us is an aggressor who has no legal, moral or any other limits,” he said. “It is very difficult to predict when (he will) begin active combat actions against Ukraine.”
MOSCOW MUSCLES IN
Ukraine’s military reports its troops have come under heavy attack in and around Donbast in the nation’s east at the weekend.
“The enemy continues using the weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. In particular, the enemy opened fire from 82mm mortars to attack the positions of the Joint Forces in Luhansk region: near the villages of Novotoshkivske and Khutir Vilny in the Popasna sector,” the Joint Forces Operation’s press service stated.
“The enemy continues using the weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. In particular, the enemy opened fire from 82mm mortars to attack the positions of the Joint Forces in Luhansk region: near the villages of Novotoshkivske and Khutir Vilny in the Popasna sector”.
The crisis flared after Moscow moved suddenly to seal the narrow channel between the Black and Azov Seas. Russian special forces seized three Ukrainian naval vessels attempting to pass through the Kerch Strait international waterway on November 25.
Under international law and a 2003 treaty signed by both Russia and Ukraine, the Sea of Azov is designated a ‘free navigation zone’ and the Kerch Strait is classified as ‘shared territorial waters’.
Moscow has now arbitrarily asserted the channel to be its territory, effectively imposing an unofficial blockade on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the Sea of Azov.
It’s a stance which will soon be challenged.
Ukraine’s defence ministry warned at the weekend that it intended to again attempt to send naval vessels through the Kerch Strait. Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said Kiev must make the risky move, “otherwise Russia will fully occupy the Sea of Azov”.
And the United States last week sent one of its guided missile destroyers into the Black Sea as a signal of its support for Kiev.
SHOW TRIAL
Russia at the weekend insisted that Ukrainian sailors it captured after seizing their vessels will go on trial for ‘violating its maritime borders’, despite international calls for their release.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the 24 Ukrainian sailors currently in detention will be put in the dock for violations of Russian and international law.
“When the investigation is over, there will be a trial,” he told reporters after a meeting in Milan of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Last month Russia opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels as they tried to pass through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.
The 24 Ukrainian crew members were detained.
Despite international calls for their release, the sailors are now being held in Moscow.
Three of them are undergoing treatment for injuries. The seamen face up to six years in prison for ‘illegally’ crossing Russia’s borders — even though the Kerch Strait is defined as ‘shared’ territorial waters.
Critics of the Kremlin have warned Russia is preparing a show trial. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has insisted they are “prisoners of war” and should be immediately released.
The seamen have joined a long list of Ukrainians jailed in Russia including filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who refused food for 145 days in an Arctic penal colony earlier this year.
The incident with the Ukrainian ships was the most dangerous in years between the ex-Soviet neighbours.
They have been locked in a confrontation since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported an insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
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