Russia: NATO Photos of Forces Near Ukraine Were Taken Last August

Ukraine Troops Involved in Drill Shown in Images

NATO military commanders have been bandying about a handful of satellite images of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, claiming they are proof of an imminent military invasion of their western neighbor.

Russian officials have confirmed the photos are authentic, but the narrative is not, saying the images were actually taken back in August of 2013 during the Combat Commonwealth military drills.

The drills were held along the Ukrainian border, but embarrassingly enough actually included Ukrainian troops, as Ukraine and Russia were on good terms before last month’s regime change.

Russia is currently holding military drills near Ukraine with around 40,000 troops, though NBC reporters in the area reported they were virtually all ground troops and armored personnel carriers, and not the balanced invasion force NATO is portraying.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.