New satellite photos released Wednesday detail Russia’s military buildup along the border with Ukraine the same day President Biden said Moscow will “prevail over time” if it chooses to invade its neighbor.
The images from Maxar Technologies, obtained by Reuters, show Russian armored personnel carriers, trucks and other military equipment massed at a storage facility in the city of Klimovo, approximately 20 miles from the border with Ukraine.
Other images show military vehicles, troop tents, tanks and artillery support equipment in the Yelnya military training area, about 160 miles from Ukrainian territory.
For months, Western nations have feared military action similar to when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Biden has promised “severe” economic sanctions if Russia invades, but the president appeared to suggest on Wednesday that a “minor incursion” by Moscow would result in a less emphatic punishment.
“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion, and then we end up having a fight about what to do and what not do, etc.,” Biden said. “But if they actually do what they’re capable of doing with the force they’ve massed on the border, it is going to be a disaster for Russia.”
“I’ve already shipped over $600 million worth of sophisticated equipment, defensive equipment to the Ukrainians,” Biden added later in his presser. “The cost of going into Ukraine in terms of the physical loss of life for the Russians — and they’ll, they’ll be able to prevail over time, but it’s going to be heavy. It’s going to be real. It’s going to be consequential.”
In recent weeks, the administration has steered clear of predicting whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would actually order the invasion. However, during Wednesday’s press conference, Biden mused to reporters: “My guess is he will move in, he has to do something.”
“I think, as usual, he’s going to …,” Biden later said before pausing for several seconds.
“I probably shouldn’t go any further,” he finally said. “I think we will hurt him badly.”
Many observers were shocked by Biden’s comments, with at least one Ukrainian official telling CNN that “Kiev is stunned.”
“This gives the green light to Putin to enter Ukraine at his pleasure,” the official said, adding that he was “shocked that the US President Biden would distinguish between incursion and invasion.”
“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted Thursday morning. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones. I say this as the President of a great power.”
As tensions grow, Ukrainian officials have also warned that Russia’s force buildup is “almost completed,” per CNN.
While Russia has denied any plans to invade its neighbor, the White House confirmed last week it had intelligence suggesting Russian operatives have been deployed to conduct a “false flag” attack in eastern Ukraine that will act as a signal for Moscow to invade.
Earlier this week, Russian officials announced they would send an unspecified number of troops from the country’s far east to Belarus for major war games. Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the joint drills would involve practicing a response to external threats.
On Thursday, Russia attempted to flip the narrative, accusing Western nations of planning “provocations” against Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said allegations of a Russian attack on Ukraine are a “cover for staging large-scale provocations of their own, including those of military character.”
“They may have extremely tragic consequences for the regional and global security,” she said, according to the Associated Press.
Zakharova recalled a recent British military transport of weapons to Ukraine and alleged the assistance is a “carte blanche for a military operation in Donbas” — an eastern Ukrainian region under the control of Russia-backed separatists.
Russia has long pushed for the US and NATO to guarantee Ukraine will never join the Atlantic alliance, citing security concerns. But a top US diplomat called Moscow’s requests a “non-starter” earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Zelensky to stress the importance of unity among the West against Russia. Blinken is scheduled to meet with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for further talks Friday in Vienna.
With Post wires
