Friday December 24th 2021
Military maneuvers planned at the border
Satellite film Russian deployment to Crimea
New satellite images from the USA show a Russian troop concentration in Crimea and western Russia. With a military maneuver near the Ukrainian border, Moscow should provide additional explosive in the Christmas week.
According to a US company specializing in satellite images, Russia has further strengthened its troops on the eastern border of Ukraine and in Crimea in recent weeks. The satellite images from December 13th published by the US company Maxar Technologies on Thursday evening show, among other things, a military base on the Crimea peninsula, which is almost completely occupied with hundreds of tanks and other armed vehicles. In a satellite image of Maxar taken in October, the same base was still half empty.
According to the company, it is an additional unit that has been relocated to the peninsula annexed by Russia. The satellite images show increasing activity by the Russian military at three locations in Crimea and five locations in western Russia. Reuters was initially unable to independently verify the authenticity of the images.
Security guarantee from NATO required
The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitri Peskov, defended the troop movements that have been going on for months. The background is unfriendly activities of NATO, the USA and several European countries, affirmed Peskow. Russia had repeatedly demanded security guarantees from the USA and NATO, such as an express waiver of Ukraine’s admission to the military alliance. In the West, however, concerns about the concentration of Russian troops near the border are growing. Ukraine fears an offensive by the Russian military.
Just the day before, Russia had announced a military maneuver that should provide new explosives: Hundreds of paratroopers are expected to hold exercises near the Ukrainian border this week, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. The maneuver should take place on the Crimea peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, and the neighboring Krasnodar province. Around 1200 soldiers with more than 250 military vehicles and aircraft are to take part. The aim is to practice capturing an area as part of an offensive mission. Russia, which supports pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, is said to have gathered around 100,000 soldiers in the border region.