An ash collection pool for the Azovstal Steel mill in Mariupol can be seen on fire in satellite data (via @sentinel_hub) from the 24th of March.
The pool (labeled as 'sludge collector' on Wikimapia) sits along the coast of the Azov sea. Damage to the retention lining could see tons of coal ash, sludge, and other toxic material run into the sea.
Can't imagine the smoke plumes are that healthy, either.
Location of the retention pool in relation to central #Mariupol.
And now its gone. Sub-5 minute pickup. Could very well have been a medical evacuation of an American national who was attempting to cross the border into Poland.
A page on Telegram run by Belarusian Railway Workers claims that Russian Military Forces have begun to transfer military equipment into Belarus via four crossings: Osinovka, Zakopytya, Shesterovka, and Ezerishche.
No 'reverse movement' dates scheduled, as of now.
They estimate the transfer of military echelons will continue for the next 2-3 days.
A brief rundown of what we know tonight as @POTUS prepares for highly anticipated call with Putin:
*Intelligence suggests 175,000+ RU troops involved in a massive, three pronged invasion deep into Ukrainian territory.
*Under direct Kremlin authorization, troops could commence offensive activities the second orders are given. Recent reports of freshly established fuel and supply lines only underscores this point.
*Majority of armored units reside in FOBs within 200km of Ukrainian border.
There is, and I cannot stress this enough, an immediate and pressing threat of Russian offensive activities against Ukraine.
Window of time from official authorization and the start of conflict would be incredibly small: far faster than even the 2014 Crimean annexation.
“The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service has released an annual report on the growing likelihood of Russian troops attacking Ukraine and the Baltic states through Belarus.”
“According to Estonian intelligence, as a result of the 2020 political crisis, Belarus has become a military district of Russia, and now this "Belarusian military district" poses an immediate threat to its closest neighbors with NATO.”