Maksar says satellite photos show the huge Russian convoy near Kiev has disintegrated; forces moving into cities and forests nearby.
A large Russian military convoy that has been stuck near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv since last week appears to have dispersed, according to a US company.
Maxar Technologies said satellite imagery taken Thursday showed a 64-kilometer (40-mile) line of vehicles, tanks and artillery had been broken up and redeployed.
The company said the images showed armored vehicles maneuvering in nearby towns near Antonov Airport, northwest of Kyiv.
According to Maxar, some of the vehicles left for the forests.
He added that the images also show elements of the convoy further north were redeploying near the town of Lubyanka with artillery howitzers towed in firing positions nearby.
A satellite image shows troops and equipment stationed in the forest on Lubyanka, northwest of Antonov Airport, against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, March 10, 2022. [Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters]
The convoy assembled outside the city early last week, but its progress appears to have stalled due to reports of food and fuel shortages.
The convoy’s redeployment comes amid reports that Russian troops have reached the northeastern outskirts of Kyiv, where suburbs, including Irpen and Bucha, have been heavily bombed for days.
There, Ukrainian soldiers described fierce fighting for control of the main highway leading to the capital, and journalists from the AFP news agency said they saw rocket attacks on Velyka Dymerka near Kyiv.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the capital “turned into a fortress.”
“Every street, every house… is being fortified,” he told Ukrainian television. “Even people who never intended to change clothes in their lives are now in uniform with machine guns in their hands.”
He added that about two million people left the capital – half of the population of the agglomeration.
“According to our data, every second citizen of Kiev left the city,” he said.
Western officials have said Russian forces have made little progress on the ground in recent days and are suffering heavier casualties and stiffer Ukrainian resistance than Moscow apparently expected.
But the forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin used aircraft and artillery to bombard Ukrainian cities.
As a result of the 15-day conflict, thousands of people were killed and injured, and millions were displaced.
The UN refugee agency estimates that at least 2.3 million people have left Ukraine for neighboring countries, and another 1.9 million people have become internally displaced.