The tensions only seem to rise in the Russia vs Ukraine crisis with the latter still denying any possibilities of invading the former Soviet nation. Ukraine has also downplayed the predictions so far. But the Western nations have claimed time and again that Russian troop deployment at the borders near Ukraine is for the provision of firepower to Putin for a full-scale invasion.
In the latest developments, a set of new satellite images released by a US company yesterday showed details of the military manoeuvres made at the Belarus border that touches Ukraine. The fresh images have shown that Russia has deployed advanced weaponry at various locations in Belarus ahead of the joint military drills as per the announcement made by Moscow and Minsk.
Belarus and Russia have stated that the joint exercises by the two nations called ‘Union Resolve 2022’ will be held from February 10 to 20 will be targeting the training to fight off an attack on the southern borders of their alliance. NATO has called this the biggest deployment to Belarus ever since the cold war. These latest developments including the deployment of advanced weaponry in Belarus have concerned the Western agencies even though Moscow has repeatedly denied its plan to attack Ukraine.
The latest images from Maxar technologies have shown that the camps where the deployment is taking place are being established very close to the Ukrainian border, hundreds of miles away from the site where the joint exercise is supposed to take place. These military units have been allegedly armed with missiles, various rocket launchers along with attack aircraft. The deployment of these military units is done at three locations that are close to the Ukrainian border. Both Belarus and Russia have not made any statements in this regard.
The satellite images that were released yesterday have shown what was identified as the ‘15 Su-25’ which is a ground-attack aircraft, and S-400 which is the air defence system at the Luninets airfields. The images also showed the deployment of SS26 Iskander missiles and multiple rocket launchers in a town in Belarus which is only 25 kilometres away from the borders of Ukraine. Several tent encampments were also seen in the city of Rechitsa making it the first time tents have been erected amid the border tensions between the two nations.
The defence minister of Russia had also visited one of the firing ranges in Belarus. The Western Agencies are trying to negotiate diplomatically with the Kremlin to encourage it to ease the military build-up along the borders.
