Satellite images taken on Monday showed a huge Russian military convoy north of Kyiv, the main target of Russia's armed forces after last week's invasion of Ukraine, stretching 65 kilometers - much larger than previously reported, according to the American company Maxar Technologies. Previous reports had it at 27 km.
The convoy includes hundreds of armored vehicles, tanks, self-propelled guns and chamber support vehicles and is headed south, towards Kyiv, according to the company.
"It extends from the outskirts of Antonov Airport (about 25 km from the center of Kyiv) in the south to the outskirts of Pribirsk," Maxar said.
The airport has been the scene of heavy fighting since the invasion began as Vladimir Putin's army tries to seize this crucial military infrastructure ahead of the operation to seize the Ukrainian capital.
In the convoy, as recorded by the satellites, "some vehicles are sometimes very far from each other", while "in other parts, the vehicles are placed in pairs or triples next to each other", Maxar added.
The pictures show hundreds of vehicles one behind the other on a road in the Ukrainian countryside and, sometimes, smoke at a short distance, coming from burning buildings, according to the company.
Maxar also released images of new concentrations of Russian ground forces, vehicles and attack helicopters in southern Belarus, less than 30 km from the Ukrainian border.
Since the start of the Russian offensive on Thursday, Ukrainian forces have so far been able to defend access to the center of Kyiv, and the advance of Russian troops has "slowed down" on the fifth day of the invasion as they gather around the Ukrainian capital.
According to two sources interviewed on Monday by the French Agency, a diplomat and someone in the security services, Moscow is preparing to launch an immediate attack on Kyiv.
The main Russian force moving towards the Ukrainian capital "advanced about five kilometers" and is "about 25 km." from the city, estimated a US Department of Defense official earlier.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ, Sky News
