missile launchers in belarus military
tents in crimea and additional artillery
units in western russia
images taken in early february show how
moscow continued to deploy its armed
forces to surround ukraine
after several months of military buildup
this map shows where russian resources
were stationed to the north south and
east of the country all despite
diplomatic efforts from the u.s and nato
to de-escalate tensions moscow has
repeatedly denied planning to attack
ukraine but armed forces experts in the
us have been skeptical
this is not a buildup for an exercise
this is a buildup for military use the
type of equipment deployed and the
presence of fighter aircraft usually the
last units to arrive prior to combat
indicated that the russian army was in
position for a potential attack
according to analysts
combination of
artillery motor rifle infantry
armor logistical support russia's
movements have been particularly visible
in the west of the country belarus and
crimea suggesting that the army would
have the capability to stage attacks
from multiple locations
nearly a year ago moscow was already
building up troops and equipment in
crimea an area in the south of ukraine
which it annexed in 2014.
in april it positioned military forces
in the area for an exercise many of whom
never left
satellite imagery captured five russian
military training areas in the region it
showed the camps expanded further in
recent weeks
this is one of them nova zirene in
september last year and again in
december in these images we can see
equipment such as trucks lined up
and just over a month later the camp
seen in this image expanded with a new
section of tents
what you're seeing in the image suggests
that personnel have either arrived or
about to arrive so it suggests a more
advanced level of preparations in the
russian military that's michael kaufman
a specialist on the russian military at
the research organization cna court
kaufman said evidence of troops arriving
at camps could also be seen in these
images from western russia in late
january
he said the appearance of dark spots
indicate that snow is melting on the
tents because heaters are being used
inside of them
in early february military analysts
watching russian movements reported that
the camp had started to empty out to
leave for positions closer to ukraine's
border
moscow says it's moved the equipment and
troops in the region for training drills
because it feels threatened by nato and
the west russian president vladimir
putin accused the western military
alliance of fueling anti-russian
sentiment on its borders as ukraine
sought membership of the bloc
the stationing units for exercise in
winter weather is unusual according to
philip carber a former pentagon official
who's currently the president of a
policy research organization
everything's more lethal everything's
more
terrible you know you're out there in
sub-zero weather
the fact that they're bringing this
massive stuff in
a very
uncomfortable conditions of of winter is
also a very unusual sign carver who's
traveled several times to the front
lines in ukraine in the past said the
images showed there was more equipment
stationed in western russia than what's
normally been observed for routine
testing when you're going into combat
you're carrying at least for that unit
at least three days worth of ammunition
for full out combat
that takes a lot of trucks
and all of a sudden in these in these
photographs the trucks are there
the build-up of weapons has also been
photographed in other regions outside of
russia's borders military analysts said
that suggests if an attack were to take
place it could be multi-directional
meaning the offensive could happen from
different locations simultaneously
potentially close to some of ukraine's
major cities it's very likely that
in the event of a russian military
operation that there would be an attack
along multiple access to kia from
belarus into northeastern ukraine from
western military districts and from the
very south in crimea these images show
stocks of russian ss-26 iscander
missiles in belarus according to karber
and kaufman they have a range of around
400 kilometers and can be used with
nuclear warheads russian fighter jets
were also pictured in belarus ahead of
military drills military experts point
out that air forces are normally the
last to arrive in an area before
military action to support ground troops
but even if movements on the ground have
increased analysts in the u.s and other
western countries say they don't know if
putin made a final decision to attack
moscow has an array of options including
capturing a limited area or using its
current presence to negotiate and attain
more influence and political power in
ukraine putin demands guarantees that
nato won't give membership to ukraine
and that the alliance reduces its
activities in countries close to russia
but it's a risky calculus as ukraine and
western countries also increase their
firepower in preparation for a potential
crisis is there are there costs
associated with mobilization and all
that stuff without using it absolutely
but it would be the cheapest
if he could get
us and ukraine to concede that's the
cheapest victory ever had