On February 27, three days after the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, satellites from the US company Maxar first spotted a huge Russian military convoy moving from Belarus towards the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The column of hundreds of vehicles stretched - with gaps - over a length of up to 75 kilometers, roughly from the town of Prybirsk to near Hostomel Airport.
Troop movements have been difficult to follow over the past few days due to bad weather conditions.
Current satellite images from Maxar now show how the convoy is gradually spreading out around Kyiv.
There are probably two reasons for this: Due to the narrow formations, which sometimes stretched for kilometers over open roads, the units were easy targets for artillery and drone strikes.
Russian troop movements have been repeatedly criticized by military experts.
In the meantime, most of the convoy has broken up, Russian troops have taken up positions in the shelter of the forests and are distributed among villages.
This makes them less likely to be targeted.
In addition, some artillery units can already be seen in combat positions in the pictures, which could give an indication of their next targets.
In the area around Kyiv, 2S3 Akatsiya and 2S19 Msta tank artillery, various howitzers and multiple rocket launchers are in use.
In the past few days, the Russian military has made up some ground, especially west of the capital, and could now try to use artillery to advance further to Gostomel and Irpin, which has recently been under extreme fire.
The regions are within range of the artillery positions.
If the assumption of military experts is confirmed that multiple rocket launchers of the type BM-30 have also taken up positions in the north-west of the city, the situation for the population of Kiev would become even worse.
In the most modern version, the artillery system fires up to 120 kilometers and would thus reach the capital.
Kyiv will most likely also be the long-term destination of the convoy, which has so far been held up by major supply problems and difficult weather and ground conditions.
All of the different artillery types can cause major damage to civilians in urban areas due to their poor accuracy and high explosive power.
The BM-30 can even be armed with thermobaric missiles, which are particularly dangerous to civilians because of their devastating explosions and incendiary effects.
A look at the satellite images of places that are already under Russian control also shows what may lie ahead for Kyiv and its suburbs.
Residential buildings in Borodyanka are partly completely destroyed, smoke from a burning fuel tank rises above Antonov Airport.
Such damage is likely to multiply many times over in a longer house-to-house battle including air support in the capital.