Russian forces have left an important base in northern Crimea in anticipation of a possible Ukrainian offensive into the peninsula. This is what CNN reveals, in possession of satellite images from which the clearing of the base near the village of Medvedivka, near the border with the Kherson region, emerges. It is not immediately clear where Moscow has redeployed its forces and equipment, but the authorities of the peninsula annexed by the Federation in 2014 have indicated that they fear an action by Kiev.
“I think that the decision to build defensive structures in Crimea and on nearby positions is correct and justified – the governor of the peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov said on April 11 – In general, I can say that our Armed Forces have built a modern defense and deeply articulated. That doesn’t mean they will necessarily be used for their intended purpose. We had to prepare for any scenario, and we did.”
Starting from these statements, the opinion of defense experts is that the withdrawal of Russian military equipment from the Medvedivka base could be linked to defensive operations in view of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. The images of the EU Sentinel 2 satellite of 21 January show a large presence of Russian equipment, underlines CNN, while the higher resolution images of the Maxar satellite of 11 February show the presence of dozens of armored vehicles, tanks and artillery pieces. Means that are no longer visible in the new Sentinel 2 images dating back to March 27th.