Kremlin amassing more troops on border and could invade at ‘any time’, warns US

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Commercial satellite images published by a private US company show new Russian military deployments at several locations near Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow’s force buildup continues amid a flurry of diplomacy aimed at easing the crisis.

Russia is holding joint military exercises in ex-Soviet Belarus as well as naval drills in the Black Sea, part of a surge of military activity near Ukraine that has fueled fears of an impending invasion. Russia denies any plans to attack.

US-based Maxar Technologies, which has been tracking the buildup of Russian forces for weeks, said images taken on Wednesday and Thursday showed significant new deployments in several locations in annexed Crimea, western Russia and Belarus.

In Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Maxar said it had identified a large new deployment of troops and equipment at Oktyabrskoye airfield north of the city of Simferopol, including 550 troop tents and hundreds of vehicles.

New troops and equipment also arrived near Crimea’s Novoozernoye, it said, pointing also to a new deployment near the town of Slavne, on the northwest coast of the peninsula.

In Belarus, the site of major joint drills, Maxar said it had identified a new deployment of troops, military vehicles and helicopters at Zyabrovka airfield near Gomel, less than 25 km from the border with Ukraine.

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