Satellite pictures have been extensively used by those following the Ukrainian conflict and especially Russia’s role in this conflict. Updated on an irregular basis on Google Earth, they helped prove that Russia had fired on Ukraine from its territory (something that had already been suspected for a long time thanks to post by Russian soldiers themselves). They showed the emergence of Russian base camps in the countryside near the Ukrainian border on several occasions. Combined with the research and analysis of User Generated Content (UGC), especially photos from social accounts, they are a major tool for geolocalization activities, and for confirming assessments made through the analysis of photos or videos.

Satellite pictures were not used for our article about Russian forces in Millerovo, which focused exclusively on data gathered on social accounts of Russian soldiers. However, Google recently released new satellite imagery of the airbase. Combined with previous pictures, they give an interesting idea of the extent of the Russian’s army presence in this base located 20km from the Ukrainian border, as well as confirming the assessments made in our previous article.

The Millerovo Airbase, from June 2014 to March 2015

For reference, this is a satellite picture of the base in June 2014: