Bridge Appears In Chernobyl Exclusion Zone That Could Give Russia Unique Access To Ukraine

[Javaman]

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44319/pontoon-bridge-appears-in-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-that-could-give-russia-unique-access-to-ukraine

Amid persisting concerns that the Kremlin may soon launch a new military incursion into Ukraine, recent satellite imagery shows a pontoon bridge across a potentially strategic portion of the Pripyat River in Belarus. This was very likely constructed by Russian forces, possibly in cooperation with Belarusian units.

It's not clear if this temporary bridge is still in place, but its appearance, even briefly, is notable and unusual in that this portion of the river is less than two and a half miles north of the Ukrainian border and is also situated inside Belarus' Polesie State Radioecological Reserve. This is a companion region to an adjacent exclusion zone in Ukraine and both areas were heavily contaminated by radioactive fallout as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Satellite images from Planet Labs showing the bridge first began to appear on social media yesterday. A review of the images that the company has available of this area of the Pripyat River shows that the span was erected sometime between February 14 and 15, 2022. Another shot from February 13 shows that there was work done beforehand to clear areas on both sides of the river for the bridge.

more and aerial photos a well at link...