Politico has published satellite images that confirm recent reports that Russia is again concentrating troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine, the UNN reports.
The images were taken on November 1, by the company Maxar Technologies, the newspaper notes. According to the newspaper, they show an accumulation of military equipment, particularly tanks, near the town of Yelnya in the Smolensk Region (separated from Ukraine only by the Bryansk Region).
Politico writes that according to the British military publication Jane's, equipment of Russia's 4th Tank Division is deployed near Bryansk and Kursk, near the northern borders with Ukraine. The units are equipped with T-80U battle tanks and self-propelled artillery. "Part of the 1st Guards Tank Army has also been spotted in the area," the publication claims.
Jane's notes that these units are designed to conduct operations at all levels, from "counterinsurgency to mechanized combat operations." The deployment "marks a clear deviation from the standard scheme of training of the 1st Guards Tank Army" which is usually carried out near Moscow, the British publication states.
As a reminder, at the end of last week, The Washington Post reported about the accumulation of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. U.S. and European officials told the publication that they see "unusual movements of equipment and military on Russia's western flank" and began recording it after the end of the Russian-Belarusian exercise "West-2021," which took place from September 10 to 15. The piece noted that the troop movements occurred against the backdrop of Russia taking a tougher stance on Ukraine and the conflict in Donbass "having entered a new stage".
On November 1, Sergey Lavrov accused Kiev of attempting to create a "provocative situation" in Donbas and to draw Moscow into hostilities in the region. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded that Ukraine was trying to draw Russia into the diplomatic process, not into "military action".
