Digital Desk: According to a US defence official, 40 % to 50 % of Russian ground troops stationed near the Ukrainian border have moved into attack positions nearer to the frontier, suggesting that the Russians are prepping for a potential invasion.
According to satellite imagery taken this week, military intervention can be seen in various sites across Belarus, Ukraine's occupied Crimea area, and western Russia near Ukraine's frontier.
The photographs indicate new helicopter installations, including troop transportation and ground assault helicopters, at numerous places along the frontier, according to US-based Maxar Technologies, which has been watching the buildup of Russian forces for weeks.
According to the report, additional ground assault aircraft, air defense units, and drone technology have also been deployed.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden said that Russia's Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine within days, after rebels supported by Moscow instructed residents to leave breakaway regions on buses, a move the West thinks is a pretext for an invasion.
According to US estimates, Russia has gathered between 1,69,000 and 1,90,000 troops in and around Ukraine.
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Speaking at the White House, the US president stated: "We have reason to believe the Russian forces are preparing to and plan to pound Ukraine in the coming week. In the coming days, we believe that they will target Ukraine's capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people."
The US private firm communicated that the photographs also showed a sizeable new deployment of at least 50 helicopters that had reached northwest Belarus.
Warning sirens blared Donetsk and Luhansk on Friday after rebel leaders announced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people to Russia.
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