The deployment is likely linked to joint exercises between Russian and Belarus forces that are set to begin on Thursday. However, other photos show camps being set up close to the border with Ukraine, hundreds of miles from where the exercises are being held.
Maxar’s photos – taken on Saturday – are in line with recently posted social media videos showing Russian forces marching through Belarus and building field camps within 20 miles of the Ukrainian border.
Some of the imagery shows Belarus’s Luninets airfield, where Russian fighter jets are stationed ahead of an exercise called Union Resolve 2022. Photos show the Russian S-400 air defense system and Su-25 attack aircraft in the airfield. The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday released a video of the planes arriving at the Luninets.
Other photos of Maxar show Russian forces positioning themselves at a distance from where the exercise is planned – which meets the borders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, some 170 miles (270 km) east of Lunitsk. Also included is a Belarusian city Rechits.
The force gathered there includes tanks, howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles.
The images show that several tent camps have been built in Rechitsa for the first time. Recent footage and developments in that area show an increasing Russian presence there. Videos posted on social media showed Russian soldiers entertaining locals in Rechitsa, accompanied by music and performances at an event called Two Nations, One History, One People.
Several other images of Maxar show a growing Russian presence southwest of Rechitsa, and within 15 miles (25 kilometers) of the Ukrainian border, in the countryside near the city of Yelsk.
Maxar assessed the deployment near Yelask to include the short-range Iskander ballistic missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles (400 km).
Analysts at IHS/Jens, a military intelligence firm, believe that at least three Russian battalions in Yelsk are elements of the Tactical Group.
A European diplomat called the rush of forces a “big, big concern”, noting that it would be the missing piece that Moscow would need to launch a quick attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, which is less than two hours from the Belarus border. is less. ,
However, the White House has declined to say that a possible Russian invasion is “imminent” as word suggests that President Vladimir Putin has already made the decision to invade Ukraine.
CNN’s Barbara Starr, Jennifer Hansler and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report
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