Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24, 2022. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON: The United States believes Russia plans to “decapitate” Ukraine’s existing government and put pro-Russian leadership in the capital of Kyiv, a senior US defense official said today.
“What we’re seeing are initial phases of a large scale invasion,” the official said. “They’re making a move on Kyiv, but what they’re going to do in Kyiv, it’s hard to say. … It’s our assessment that they have every intention of, basically, decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance.”
After months spent amassing upwards of 150,000 troops along the Russian and Belarusian borders with Ukraine, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday night at approximately 9:30 pm Eastern time, when it began firing land and sea based missiles into central and eastern Ukraine.
According to the official, who gave a background brief to reporters Thursday morning, Russian forces are advancing along three major routes: from the southern island of Crimea north to Kherson, from Belarus to Kharkiv, and from Belarus to the northwest and northeast portions of Kyiv. The fighting has been heaviest in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, per the official.
In the initial onslaught, Russia employed approximately 75 fixed-wing heavy and medium bombers and various types of missiles — mostly short-range ballistic missiles, but also medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles — launched from both land at sea, the official said. So far, Russia has focused primarily on military and air defense targets such as barracks, ammunition warehouses and nearly 10 airfields.
“We do not have a good sense of total damage. As you might expect, we not have a good sense of casualties, civilian and/or military,” the official said.
Russia has not sought to move into Western Ukraine, and there have been no indications of amphibious assaults or attacks with hypersonic weapons, the official said. As public communication and media still seem to be available on the ground in Ukraine, it does not seem that Russia as employed the “full scope” of its electronic warfare capability yet.
The official also declined to comment on whether Russia had attempted to interfere with other nations’ space assets but confirmed that US space capabilities remain fully functional.
President Joe Biden has made clear that US troops will not deploy to Ukraine, but over recent weeks the US military has pushed troops and equipment to NATO countries close to Russia’s western flank.
Just this morning, the Air Force announced a total of six F-35s would move from Germany to the Baltic and Black Sea regions. Estonia’s Amari Air Base, Lithuania’s Siauliai Air Base, and Romania’s Fetesti Air Base will each become the temporary home to two F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variants, which will augment fighter jets currently conducting NATO air policing missions in those nations.
Previously announced deployments of AH-64 Apache helicopters are also slated to arrive in Poland and an unnamed Baltic country today after encountering “weather issues,” the official said.
This article was written by Valerie Insinna from Breaking Defense and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].
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