US official: The Russian invasion could turn into an invasion of all of Ukraine

A senior US official said that the military operation launched by Russia in Ukraine may represent the first stage of a large-scale, multi-stage "invasion" of Ukraine.

The official stated that the attack began at 9:30 pm EST with land and sea missiles.

He stated that about 100 short and medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles and sea-launched missiles were launched in the first few hours of the attack.

The official explained that the Russians are moving on three axes, from Crimea to Kherson, from Belarus to Kiev, and from the northeast to Kharkiv.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not yet known how many Russian forces were in Ukraine now, but the main targets of the air attack were barracks, ammunition depots and 10 military airfields.

And he indicated that the Russian ground forces began to move to Ukraine from Belarus about five in the morning, according to the eastern time of the United States.

In a speech to the Russian people, President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a special military operation to protect Donbass in southeastern Ukraine.

President Putin stressed that Russia will work to disarm Ukraine, prevent nationalism in Ukraine, and bring to justice the perpetrators of bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that "the Russian army did not direct any missile, air or artillery strikes on Ukrainian cities," and that Russian forces struck military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airports and Ukrainian aviation with high-precision weapons.

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