Ukraine is surrounded by Russia has on three sides. Here's where an invasion could be launched
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border in recent weeks, according to US estimates, raising fears from Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials that an invasion could be imminent.
As frantic diplomatic efforts are made to avert war, analysts warn that Russia's military poses an immediate threat to Ukraine.
But if an invasion were to occur, it is unclear where it would begin. Russia has created pressure points on three sides of Ukraine -- in Crimea to the south, on the Russian side of the two countries' border, and in Belarus to the north.
Here are the three fronts Ukraine and the West are watching and the recent Russian movements detected in each.
The central assumption of those watching Russian movements is that Moscow could boost the military might it already possesses in the region, making eastern Ukraine the most accessible position from which to launch an invasion.
This shows that a large base at Yelnya, which held Russian tanks, artillery and other armour, has been primarily emptied, with the equipment being moved much closer to the frontier in recent days.
Large amounts of weaponry were moved to the base late in 2021 before disappearing including some 700 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and ballistic missile launchers. Social media videos since show some of that equipment on trains and roads much further south in the Bryansk region, which is close to Ukraine. The armour and vehicles are identifiably from the same units that had pre-positioned at Yelnya.
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