Google Maps Showed Russian Military Inside Ukraine Hours Before Invasion

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Jeffery Lewis, a California-based professor, spotted the Russian military in Ukraine hours before Putin declared war on Ukraine.

Jeffery Lewis is, a nonproliferation professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, spotted a traffic jam at 3:15 am Russian local time on Thursday.

He instantly took screenshots and shared them on his Twitter;

According @googlemaps, there is a "traffic jam" at 3:15 in the morning on the road from Belgorod, Russia to the Ukrainian border. It starts *exactly* where we saw a Russian formation of armor and IFV/APCs show up yesterday.
Someone's on the move. pic.twitter.com/BYyc5YZsWL
— Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) February 24, 2022

The jam can be seen outside of Belgorod on Google Maps at 3:15 am Russian time and at 6 am, Putin ordered to invade Ukraine.

Google collects real-time data through smartphones via the Google Maps app, which sends signals showing us where the traffic jam is. So, this means the Russian military who entered Ukraine had been carrying cellphones with Google Maps in them.

traffic jam on the road from Belgorod Russia to the Ukrainian border — The Red line shows Russian military movement causing traffic jam signal on Google Maps. Photo via Twitter/Google Maps

Usually, during military missions, the use of smartphones is strictly prohibited. Still, one possible reason for using smartphones would be to see where they can get the clear road to Ukraine.