Satellite imagery showing attack helicopter buildup on the Crimean peninsula

Satellite imagery showing attack helicopter buildup on the Crimean peninsula Maxar Technologies

Satellite Images and Experts Challenge Russian Withdrawal Claims

Photos show attack helicopters, jets, troops moving toward forward positions near Ukraine in the midst of aggressive legislative actions in the Russian assembly.

President Joe Biden said the United States could not confirm Russian claims made on Tuesday that they were moving troops away from the Ukrainian border, instead warning that the threat of an invasion into Ukraine remains possible.

"That would be good, but we have not yet verified that.” In fact, he said, “We have not verified the Russian military units are returning to their home bases. Indeed, our analysts indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position.” Russia still has 150,000 troops “encircling Ukraine,” he said.

As the president publicly committed to continue diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, analysts say they are skeptical of Moscow’s claims and intentions due to satellites footage over the past 48 hours, recent actions from the Russian assembly, and Tuesday’s denial of service attacks aimed at Ukrainian banks, defense and other targets. 

Maxar satellite photos released to the public on Monday evening showed military equipment and personnel moving nearer to Ukraine. “Significant new activity includes the arrival of several large deployments of troop and attack helicopters, new deployments of ground attack aircraft and fighter-bomber jets to forward locations, the departure of multiple ground forces units from existing garrisons along with other combat units seen in convoy formation,” Maxar said in a statement. Specifically, the photos show a new attack helicopter group near Lake Donuzlaz on the annexed Crimean peninsula, a new SU-34 deployment near Primorsko-akhtarsk across the Azov Sea from Russia, tent troop housing near the Russian city of Yelnya about 155 miles from the Ukraine border; among other indicators. 

Overview of helicopter deployments, Lake Donuzlav, Crimea, Ukraine on Feb 13, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies
Overview of helicopter deployments at Lake Donuzla in Crimea, Ukraine on Feb 13, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Close up of helicopters and troops at Lake Donuzlav in Crimea, Ukraine on Feb 13, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Battle Group Vehicle Park in Yelnya, Russia on Jan 19, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Troop tents and housing area in Yelnya, Russia on Jan 19, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Overview of new Su-34 Fighter deployment at Primorsko Akhtarsk Airbase, Krasnodar Krai, Russia on Feb 13, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Closer view of new Su-34 Fighter deployment at Primorsko Akhtarsk Airbase, Krasnodar Krai, Russia on Feb 13, 2022 | Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

McDaniel Wicker, vice president for strategy at Babel Street, told Defense One. "Analysts using Babel Street tools have not seen any indication outside of Russian media and then Russian media derived information to substantiate Russian troop withdrawals."  

 Lauren Speranza, director of the Transatlantic Defense and Security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said, “The satellite images indicate Russia is putting in place the final pieces they would want to have there to support an invasion. So we need to verify the facts on the ground before taking the Kremlin at its word.”

Speranza said Russia made similar claims of withdrawal and de-escalation last spring after a military buildup. “In practice, it only withdrew some elements, while keeping others in place or nearby. Putin could be strategically positioning to allow another short-notice build-up or incursion a few months down the line.”

The 2014 Russian attack on Ukraine occurred alongside cyber attacks aimed at civilian targets. On Tuesday, two Ukrainian banks and Ukrainian defense websites were hit with denial of service attacks. The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security did not formally attribute the denial of service attacks to Russia but the center hinted in that direction, saying in a statement: "It is not ruled out that the aggressor used tactics of little dirty tricks because its aggressive plans are not working out on a large scale.” 

Also on Tuesday, Russia’s Duma voted to recognize two areas in Ukraine currently occupied by Russian forces, the Donetsk People’s Republic, or DNR, and the  Luhansk People's Republic, or LPR, as independent from Ukraine. The provision passed by a wide-enough margin that it goes directly to President Vladimir Putin to consider. If Putin approve the measure, he would essentially collapse the premise of the Minsk ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia. 

The Duma’s action follows months of increasing tensions between DNR and LPR and the government of Ukraine. A Babel Street analysis of social media relating to Eastern Ukraine found that beginning on January 23, pro-Russian forces began a “concerted social media push…to spread accusations of Ukrainian aggression and human rights violations, provide justification for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.