Russia deploys S-400 surface-to-air missile battery in Crimea, seen in new satellite images
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Satellite images shot Sunday and exclusively obtained by Fox News show a newly deployed Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile battery in the Dzhankoy airbase in Crimea.
The intelligence report by ImageSat International indicates that the infrastructure for the S-400 battery was prepared in recent months, a long time before last weekend's naval encounters that sparked new tension between Russia and Ukraine.
The images showed a bare ground in April 2018, and construction by November 10 – two weeks before the recent escalation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The infrastructure for the S-400 battery was prepared in recent months, a long time before the incident that sparked the new tension between Russia and Ukraine. (ImageSat International)
The image captured Sunday confirms the deployment. The eight launchers of the S-400 battery are divided into four, which are located in the southwest area of the airbase -- as well as two radar systems and several trucks nearby. One of them is suspected to carry S-400 missiles.
The mobile S-400 missile has a range of up to almost 250 miles and can climb to an altitude of almost 19 miles. It's intended to bring down a variety of aerial threats, from aircraft to cruise and ballistic missiles.
The images show a bare ground followed by construction – before the recent escalation between Russia and Ukraine. (ImageSat International)
On November 28, 2018, the Russian defense ministry issued a statement, days after Russian warships seized multiple Ukrainian naval vessels, escalating the conflict with Ukraine over the land Russia annexed in 2014.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russia has bolstered the Black Sea peninsula’s military defenses with three S-400 systems since 2017. The present deployment reinforces already existing S-400 batteries.