Satellite and Drone Images Show Russia Invading and Ukraine Resisting

Air strikes and troop movements are visible from above.

Eric Mack Contributing Editor
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Eric Mack
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Ukrainian military forces block a road in the so-called government quarter in Kyiv on Feb. 24 as Russia's ground forces invaded Ukraine from several directions. 

Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Images from commercial satellites and Ukraine's armed forces show Russian troops advancing on major cities as Ukrainians put up a fierce resistance.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been sharing a stream of videos and images (including some that are quite graphic) on Twitter and Facebook highlighting its troops fighting back against Vladimir Putin's invading forces. 

The below video shows footage apparently shot from a military command center of a drone strike on a Russian convoy described as being to the west of Kyiv:

And this video shot on the ground shows the remains of destroyed Russian tanks outside of Kyiv:

A commercial satellite spotted smoke rising from an air base in Ukraine as Russian forces invaded the country and former Soviet state on Thursday. 

Planet, which operates a constellation of over 200 Earth-observing satellites, shared before and after images of Chuhuiv Airbase, with the latter showing black smoke rising from facilities at the base. 

Chuhuiv was once a Soviet Air Force base and has long been a location of military importance. It lies outside the major Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, a short distance to the south of the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Pictures captured by Maxar satellites earlier in the week show Russia building up military resources along Ukraine's border prior to the invasion.

Vladimir Putin announced late Wednesday that Russia was beginning a "special military operation" in Ukraine under the pretense of responding to Ukrainian aggression. 

Explosions have been seen in the country's largest cities and hundreds of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians, including some children, have reportedly already been killed in the conflict.