Amateur footage shows Russian military convoys heading towards Donbass

Published on: 04/13/2022 – 19:20 Large convoys of military equipment have been filmed in Russia and Belarus in recent days. Amateur videos verified and analyzed by the Observers editorial staff show that some of these military reinforcements are heading towards the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, where the two pro-Russian separatist republics are located. Moscow announced on March 30 that it would concentrate its military efforts in this region. Columns of tanks and military trucks extend for more than a kilometer. Vehicles are marked with a white letter “V”. Above, dozens of men in military fatigues, some wearing a white armband – a distinctive sign usually worn by Russian soldiers in operation in Ukraine. This video posted on Twitter on April 11, 2022 was geotagged by the @karolgoal account on Twitter near Matveev Kurgan, Rostov region, Russia. On Google Street View, we recognize the intersection where the video begins, then the blue gas station sign that we see at the end of the video. Thus, the person filming is traveling from north to south, the vehicles opposite are therefore going north: this is the direction of the Ukrainian border, the Donbass is 25 km from where the images were taken. #RUSSIAHuge Russian Armed Forces column set to move into Donbass for the new upcoming Donbass offensive (this column redeployed from kyiv region): pic.twitter.com/P9dPxNg9cA— UkraineMaps (@MapsUkraine) April 11, 2022 Video was posted on Twitter April 11, 2022. Soldiers wave blue cross flags of the Russian Navy, as well as the black, yellow and white flag of the Russian Empire. On March 29, Russia pledged to reduce military activity around Kyiv in order to “focus attention and efforts on the main goal, the liberation of Donbass,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei said. Shoigu: Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motouzianik announced on April 12 that he expected a major offensive in the region to be imminent: “According to our information, the enemy has almost completed its preparation for a assault on the East. The attack will take place very soon.”For several days, numerous amateur videos have shown military reinforcements in border regions in Russia, such as here, in Zheleznogorsk in the Kursk region. The video was published on the Russian social network Vkontakte , April 12. The video was filmed in the north of the city: on Google Street View one can recognize the gray nine-storey buildings, the slender trees and the red supermarket visible in the video at 0:16. Ukraine is 90 km away. The video was published on Vkontakte on April 13, 2022. These convoys were sometimes greeted with enthusiasm by the Russian population. Residents gathered on their way with flags, in a sign of support for the military operation.In a video posted on April 12 on the Russian social network Vkontakte, residents can be seen trying to stop vehicles from a military convoy in order to offer soldiers donations.The video was filmed near the vi Zmiyovka village, Orel region, Russia. In the video, we can see at 0:03 a green palisade in front of a small red brick building. On Google Street View, the same palisade and the same building can be seen, on the right side of road 119, just before the village of Zmiyovka. It can be deduced that the convoy was heading south, towards Donbass. The video was posted on Vkontakte on April 12. Locals can be heard shouting “Russia! Russia!” when the convoy passes. Troop movements visible on satellite images Satellite images published by the American company Maxar dating from April 11 show the accumulation of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. They were geolocated in Soloti, in the Belgorod region, by the account @Noobieshunta_ on Twitter. On Google Maps, if we reverse the image, we can recognize the shape of the Oksil River, as well as the small dirt roads that form loops in the plain. This place is located 50 km from the border. This satellite image was released by Maxar on April 13, 2022. © Maxar Another convoy was pictured the same day on Maxar satellite images inside Ukraine, near Bilokurakyne in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, en route to the breakaway republics to the south of the region. He comes from the north, where the Russian border is. These images were geotagged by the British NGO Center for Information Resilience (CIR). On Google Maps, we can actually recognize the small road that leads to the square building with a green roof (which appears gray on Google Maps), and the three long rectangular buildings arranged in staggered rows. {{ scope.counterText }} {{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }} {{ scope.counterText }} i {{ scope.legend }}© {{ scope.credits }} Troop movements have also been documented in BelarusIn Belarus too, movements of military convoys have been sighted recently. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly asserted that his army is not participating in the war in Ukraine. His country, however, serves as a rear base for Russia: it is in particular through there that part of the Russian troops entered Ukraine at the start of the offensive on February 24. On April 11, a video published on TikTok by a resident from Orsha in eastern Belarus showed military vehicles on a train near the station in his town. On the video, we can recognize the red and white building 200 m from Orsha station, as seen on Google Street View. It can be inferred that the convoy was heading southwest. According to the Belarusian opposition site Molotkohelp, which documents troop movements in Belarus every day, the convoys are mainly concentrated southeast of Homel, about fifty kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Since the beginning of April, Center for Information Resilience (CIR) has verified and analyzed a dozen videos showing movements of military equipment in and around Homel. The above video was geotagged by the @RedIntelPanda Twitter account near Rechytsa in southeast Belarus. In the video, we can read a sign saying “Ivanovka” 1 km to the left and “Yampol” 4 km to the right, indicating the position of the convoy, which therefore advances eastwards, in the direction of Homel. At a press conference on April 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that the Russian offensive in Ukraine was continuing “calmly” and minimizing casualties.