A new Russian military base has been established in Novocherkassk, near Rostov-on-Don, approximately 200 km from the front line in Ukraine, according to satellite imagery obtained by Radio Liberty’s Schemes project.
The base, which appears to be a logistical support facility, was constructed on the site of a former military cooking school that had been abandoned since 2011.
Satellite images from Planet Labs show that military activity at the site began in August 2023, with about 50 military trucks and 10 tents. Over the past year, the base has tripled in size.
Military expert Mikhail Zhirokhov analyzed the images, saying that many trucks are in military colors. “Neither tanks nor armored personnel carriers are detected by the satellite, so with high probability, this is one of the military units of material and technical support,” he said.
The investigation suggests that this base may belong to the 100th Military Logistics Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces. This regiment, created in 2014 under Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, is responsible for delivering military cargo to combat zones and responding to man-made disasters, fires, and floods.
Schemes report that the regiment may have begun relocating from its previous base near Moscow to Novocherkassk in August 2023. This conclusion is based on changes in the geolocation of several servicemen’s mobile phones.
The journalists contacted some servicemen whose phones were detected at the new base. One of them, Matvey Shokurov, confirmed that his unit had been transferred to Novocherkassk.
Zhirokhov explains the strategic importance of the location: “After February 2022, the Russians simply scaled up all logistics in this region. Moreover, temporary bases, for example, in Luhansk, after receiving long-range weapons [by Ukraine] found themselves within the reach of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.”
He adds that the relocation of the logistics regiment to an area difficult to reach without long-range weapons is a response to the prohibition of using Western weapons to strike Russian territory.
According to DeepStateMap, the new base is approximately 200 km from the combat zone in Ukraine, currently beyond the reach of Ukrainian forces without Western long-range weapons.
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