40-mile Russian military convoy nearing Kyiv, satellite pictures show

A huge Russian military convoy is approaching the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, satellite images have shown.

The column, made up of armoured vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and other logistical vehicles stretches about 40 miles (64 km), US satellite company Maxar said.

The massed Russian force, which appears to have travelled south from Belarus, has reached the outskirts of the city, the company added.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from a number of homes and buildings along the convoy’s route, according to Maxar, although the cause was unclear.

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On Monday, the fifth day of the invasion, the head of the convoy was believed to be around 17 miles (27 km) from Kyiv, Press Association said.

The invasion continues to move more slowly than Russian President Vladimir Putin anticipated, the Ministry of Defence said in a military intelligence update on Tuesday.

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“The Russian advance on Kyiv has made little progress over the past 24 hours probably as a result of continuing logistical difficulties,” the MoD said, adding that Russia had increased its use of artillery.

Russia had also been forced to shift to more night operations due to the failure to gain air superiority, it said.

The satellite pictures also show more ground force deployments and helicopter units in southern Belarus, less than 20 miles north of the Ukrainian border.

General Sir Richard Barrons, the Co-chairman of Universal Defence & Security Solutions, a global defence consultancy, said at the moment the convoy is “essentially a giant military traffic jam. It’s moving, but moving slowly.”

Such a large column “suggests Russians are… confident of control of the airspace and freedom from attacks from the flanks by the Ukrainian forces.”

“We’d expect to see it shaking out [deploying] somewhere around the outskirts of Kyiv” in a process that might take as long as 24 hours.

The make-up of the convoy represents a “step-change in the amount of military force Russia is deploying,” Sir Richard said.

“This is the heavy mob, this is tanks, artillery and troops in armoured vehicles with more firepower.”

Once deployed the column could aim for one of two strategic objectives, Sir Richard added.

They could either “lay seige to the city…”or roll it into and apply all that firepower”.

Despite the approaching threat, the Ukrainian president said in a video late on Monday that they remained determined to hold the capital.

“For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

In other developments:
• Pro-Russian separatists were taking control of Nikolayevka, a town in the eastern region of Donetsk, overnight
• In the resort town of Berdyansk residents yelled at the Russian occupiers to go home
• More than 520,000 refugees have already fled Ukraine, the UN says
• Long lines form outside supermarkets in Kyiv as residents were allowed out of their homes and bomb shelters

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