scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeWorld64-km-long Russian convoy nearing Kyiv made up of 'armoured vehicles, tanks, towed...

64-km-long Russian convoy nearing Kyiv made up of ‘armoured vehicles, tanks, towed artillery’

The length of the convoy was so large that it could not be entirely captured by the satellites. In some areas, the convoy was nearly two to three rows deep.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: On the sixth day of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine Tuesday, a 64-km-long Russian convoy was assumed to be heading towards Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv. US-based satellite imagery company Maxar Technologies captured the images.

The length of the convoy was so large that it could not be entirely captured by the satellites. In some areas, the convoy was nearly two to three rows deep.

— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) February 28, 2022

Further updates showed that the convoy had reached Antonov Airport, a cargo facility, located in the North-West suburbs of Kyiv. The image also showed houses burning along the route of the convoy.

Reports suggest that the convoy is made up of armoured vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and other vehicles.

Some reports also noted that the convoy’s origins can be traced to Belarus. The former Soviet state, which lies to the northwest of Kyiv, can be argued to be where the convoy took off from. All major routes in the northwest of Kyiv end in Belarus.

Russia placed multiple troops, military vehicles, and helicopters in Belarus prior to the invasion, under the pretext of joint exercises by the two countries. However, as the exercises ended, the troops, vehicles and helicopters stayed behind, according to reports.

Russia then built a pontoon bridge across the Pripyat River, crossing the Chernobyl exclusion zone, into Ukraine from Belarus. The day invasions began, and further images depicted that Russia began moving troops and vehicles across that bridge into Ukraine.

Looking at the scale of troops, armoured vehicles, tanks and towed artillery, as part of the convoy and the route which it is following — Belarus’s acquiescence or clandestine support could look implicit.

However, there is still ambiguity whether the convoy is headed towards the centre of Kyiv or to assist and join Russian troops deployed elsewhere in Ukraine. The convoy, however, was judged to be 25-kilometre-long from Kyiv.

As talks between Russia and Ukraine stalled on the first day, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating that there “can be fair negotiations if one side does not hit the other side with rocket artillery at the time of negotiations”, stakes could rest on the fate of this Russian convoy and where it goes from here.


Also read: ‘Stepped out to buy groceries’: Indian medical student, 21, dies in Ukraine from shelling


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular