Russia's massive deployment near Ukraine borders: See satellite pics

Satellite images accessed by India Today show early indications of a possible aerial attack on Ukraine by Russian forces.

Satellite images accessed by India Today show early indications of a possible aerial attack on Ukraine by Russian forces amid the escalating situation in the area that is being pegged as one of the worst flare-ups in the post-Cold War period by many.

Last evening, US President Joe Biden said that the US has reasons to believe that "the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days." Capital Kyiv will be a target, he added. For weeks, Biden stressed that he wasn't sure if his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had made the final decision to invade.

Images posted on Russian social media showed the movement of the Airborne Combat Carrier (APC) fitted with parachutes. The Soviet airborne infantry fighting vehicle BMD-2 APCs seen in the footage can be airlifted by Russian medium military transport aircraft and can be airdropped using parachutes in record time.

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New pictures released by US space firm Maxar technologies earlier today show additional deployment of transport and attack helicopters, air defence units, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and fighter jets dangerously close to the Ukraine border. Several units of the Russian ground forces also remain in maneuver positions at both garrisons and training areas, a Maxar analyst noted.

In the satellite photos, Sukhoi-25 ground attack aircraft along with helicopters, S-400 air defense system, UAV units as well as ground force equipment can be seen in Belarus, just 50 km from the border with Ukraine.

The Sukhoi Su-25, also known as Frogfoot, remains the foundation of Russian ground-attack regiments. 32 of these Su-25 jets are clearly visible at the Luninets airfield in the satellite picture.