Thread by @DFRLab

Russian military equipment, including BM-27 220mm rocket launchers, have been spotted in #Belarus near #Minsk and in #Gomel and #Rechitsa, north of #Kiev and within range of #Ukraine’s border. @Michael1Sheldon’s latest report on #Russia's build up 🧵👇
medium.com/dfrlab/russian…

@Michael1Sheldon Belarusian media reported that the military hardware arrived for “Allied Resolve” joint exercises. Regardless, the developments are concerning given their timing, scale, and origin. See the map below for the equipment's movement:

A Russian convoy arrived to Gomel with multiple rocket launcher and transporter-loader vehicles. In the footage, 11 transporter and a single BM-27 multiple rocket launcher are visible, along with support vehicles. Video showed the equipment headed toward the Ukrainian border.

#OSINT imagery also showed a column of 19 military vehicles parked near a road that leads to Rechitsa. The column appeared to consist primarily of logistical vehicles. BM-27 launchers also appeared at Rechitsa’s train station.

Russian equipment was also spotted in the #Minsk region on January 17, including a train carrying BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles. One day prior, a video of the same train was uploaded to @tiktok_us. @DFRLab geolocated the footage to the town of Ishim, nearly 3,000 km away.

@tiktok_us Last week, @Michael1Sheldon reported on this equipment’s movement from #Russia’s far-east. The movement, from as far as Russia’s eastern border, is an escalation in their previous build up over the last several months, now effectively surrounding #Ukraine.medium.com/dfrlab/missile…

@tiktok_us @Michael1Sheldon Read the rest of @Michael1Sheldon’s reporting on Russian military equipment’s presence along #Ukraine’s northern border with #Belarus. medium.com/dfrlab/russian…

UPDATE: In this thread's first tweet, we used the spelling "Kiev" rather than "Kyiv." We apologize for any confusion or concerns this may have caused. -@DFRLab