Alliance Tries to Refute Russian Allegations It Released Old Images
STEPHEN FIDLER
BRUSSELS—The North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Friday sought to refute Russian allegations it released old satellite imagery in an effort to show Russian troop concentrations near Ukraine, putting out before-and-after photos it says make clear there has been a recent buildup of forces.
NATO had released surveillance images Thursday it said showed temporary military bases close to the border, but Moscow claimed the images were out-of-date.
"The photos distributed by NATO show units of the Russian Southern military district, which were conducting various exercises last summer, including near the Ukrainian border," the official RIA-Novosti news agency quoted a senior official at the Russian General Staff as saying.
The newly released photos include seven commercial satellite images taken before the apparent buildup of Russian forces, which NATO says began in early March. Senior military officers on Thursday described Russian military forces deployed in more than 100 makeshift bases as being in a high state of readiness.
The new images include overviews of a site at Belgorod, some 40 kilometers from the border. A photo dated March 7 shows the site almost empty; by March 24, there is apparent evidence of a temporary base for ground forces and helicopters.
What NATO assesses now to be the site of a makeshift base for mechanized infantry troops at Novocherkassk appears as an empty site when pictured in a photo dated May 13, 2013.
What NATO says is another temporary base for ground troops near Kuzminka was shown as an empty site in an image dated Oct. 25, 2013.
Two further images were released, apparently showing a military buildup at an air base at Yeysk compared with Jan. 14. At Buturlinovka, where large numbers of aircraft are shown in an image dated April 2, a photo dated June 17, 2013 suggests the site was disused.
NATO also released pictures showing an air base at Primorkso-Akhtarsk, which appeared to show a squadron of aircraft were on site in an image dated March 22, when compared with an earlier shot from Feb. 23.
No comments:
Post a Comment