WASHINGTON. As Russian troops head towards Kiev with the apparent goal of the Pentagon to “decapitate” the Ukrainian government, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III ordered an additional 7,000 troops to be sent to Europe as the continent faces its biggest land war since World War II. II.
The Pentagon ordered an armored brigade combat team to be sent to Germany to calm the fearful NATO allies in Eastern Europe, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said. Specifically, US military officials say the move is meant to warn the president. Vladimir V. Putin Russia that as long as the United States does not send troops to Ukraine, it will not hesitate to act if it turns its eyes to a member of the North Atlantic alliance.
Senior Pentagon officials have made numerous phone calls to their European counterparts about what Mr. Kirby called Russia’s “illegal and destabilizing actions.” According to him, American troops heading to Germany will be able to quickly redeploy to other countries on NATO’s eastern flank as needed.
Military officials gave a grim assessment of the damage inflicted on Ukraine some 24 hours after the start of the Russian invasion. According to them, Russian warplanes carried out more than 160 airstrikes on military installations and the air defense system of Ukraine.
Moreover, they said that the three lines of Russian troops, with their gigantic advantage over the Ukrainian military, are quickly converging on three Ukrainian cities: Kharkov in the east, Kherson in the south, and Kiev, the capital, with its three million inhabitants. In Kiev, according to one senior military official, the target appears to have been the presidential government. Vladimir Zelensky. Forces, according to the official, were assembled from Belarus in the north and Crimea in the south, using rockets and long-range artillery.
The Pentagon’s assessment suggests that “they have every intention of decapitating the government and establishing their own method of government,” the official told reporters at a Defense Department briefing. While he acknowledged that the Pentagon does not have “full knowledge” of Russian troop movements, he described what he described as “the initial phase of a large-scale invasion emanating from Belarus and Crimea.”
So far, Russian forces have been hitting Ukrainian military and air defense installations, using more medium and short-range ballistic missiles. Russia also used sea-launched missiles from warships in the Black Sea, the official said. Until he attacked the west of Ukraine.
Updated
February 24, 2022 6:00 pm ET
Military officials said Ukrainian forces fought back, with the most intense fighting in Kharkiv.
“We haven’t seen a traditional move like this, from state to state, since World War II, and if it develops the way we believe it could be very bloody, very bloody. costly and has a very strong impact on European security in general,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make these comments publicly.
One U.S. official noted that while the Ukrainian military was paltry compared to Russia, Ukrainian troops could still inflict some damage on Russian soldiers as the fighting continues.
Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
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What is at the heart of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine a part his natural sphere of influence, and is unnerved by Ukraine’s proximity to the West and the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. Although Ukraine is not part of either, it receives financial and military assistance from the US and Europe.
Are these frictions just beginning now? Antagonism between the two countries has simmered since 2014, when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine after an uprising in Ukraine replaced a Russian-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired separatist movement in the east. A ceasefire was signed in 2015but fighting continued.
How did Ukraine react? February 23, Ukraine declared a state of emergency for 30 days. when cyberattacks took out state institutions. After the attacks began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky martial law declared. The foreign minister called the attacks a “full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”
Pentagon officials expected Russian troops to cut off lines of communication within the Ukrainian army in the early hours of the invasion; it hasn’t happened yet, a senior military official said.
American troops bound for Europe will not go to Ukraine; President Biden ruled it out. But Thursday’s deployment of the Third Infantry Division’s First Brigade will bring up to the 14,000 U.S. troops Biden has brought closer to combat since the Ukraine crisis began. Their arrival will increase the number of American troops in Europe to almost 100,000.
The deployment comes after Mr. Biden warned on Thursday that the United States would “intervene” if Mr. Putin took any action in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.
This week, the Pentagon deployed six F-35 fighter jets and a host of other combat aircraft to Eastern Europe to bolster support for NATO allies. Mr. Austin also sent an infantry battalion task force of about 800 men to the Baltics. These troops and combat aircraft were already in the European theater of operations, the official said.