Russia pulls anti-aircraft missile launchers to northern Crimea - media

That’s according to satellite imagery of May 6, provided by Planet Labs and seen by the Schemes investigative project, Ukrinform reports.

"The Russian military has deployed equipment in two parts of the village of Filativka. In May, the number of military equipment at one of these sites increased,” the journalists point out.

According to a military expert who analyzed the images at the request of journalists, in addition to the barracks, there is a fuel and lubricants depot in the area. Nearly 200 combat armored vehicles of various types, trucks, and command vehicles are also seen in the area. Large vehicles have appeared separately, which, according to the expert, could be anti-aircraft units and missile launchers.

"These are one of the three types of anti-aircraft missile systems, namely: the Smerch MLR system, the S-300 surface-to-air missile system, or the Iskander operational-tactical missile launcher," the military expert said. In his opinion, such equipment can be used to strike Ukrainian defense positions.

The satellite images covering the said area, taken on April 27, showed much fewer pieces of Russian equipment.

In another part of Filativka, where some military equipment had also been deployed, its number has hardly changed. As of late April and early May, it was mostly military trucks and various types of armored combat vehicles that remained in the area. Since 2018, the village has been hosting barracks of Russian border guards.

As Ukrinform reported, Russia has deployed off the coast of Ukraine in the Black Sea six warships and two submarines carrying a total of over 50 cruise missiles, according to Operational Command South.

All of them are combat-ready.

On May 8, Ukraine's air defenses destroyed seven enemy drones and three cruise missiles.