Russia intends to 'decapitate' Ukraine government — US

WASHINGTON, United States — Russia's invasion of Ukraine is aimed at capturing the capital Kyiv and removing the country's leadership, with troops advancing on three fronts backed up by aerial bombardment, a US defense official said Thursday.

The Russian military opened its attack with around 100 missile launches in the first two hours, mainly targeting military infrastructure facilities, as well as sorties by 75 heavy and medium bombers, the official said.

The initial phase is focused on key cities, and the Pentagon expects the Russians to move on Kyiv, according to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They have every intention of basically decapitating the government and installing their own means of governance," the official said.

They said Russian troops had crossed the border on the ground but gave no estimate on numbers.

"What we're seeing are initial phases of a large scale invasion," the official said.

"We haven't seen a conventional move like this, nation state to nation state, since World War II, certainly nothing on this size and scope and scale."

The offensive has prompted Washington to reposition several thousand troops to Europe, although President Joe Biden said Thursday that while the United States vowed to defend "every inch" of NATO territory, no American forces will fight Russians in Ukraine.

Russia's invasion began on three axes aimed at seizing population centers.

The first involves troops entering from Russian-controlled Crimea toward the city of Kherson in the south.

The second is an incursion from Belarus into north-central Ukraine, toward Kyiv. 

That includes an assault backed by attack helicopters on the airport at Gostomel, on the northern outskirts of the capital.

Russian airborne troops seized control of the Gostomel airfield after hours of fighting, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that they would be encircled and crushed.

The airport, military analysts say, could become a key staging point for the Russians, to fly in more troops in preparation for a siege on Kyiv.

"If Moscow can hold onto it, and continue to achieve air superiority (the latter is very likely), it will most certainly use the airport as an entry point to attack Kyiv," said Michael Horowitz, a security analysts at consultant Le Beck International, in a tweet.

'Fighting back'

The third front is in the northeast, marked by a push from Russia near Belgorod aimed at the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

"The heaviest fighting we've seen so far is in Kharkiv," the official said.

The opening phase was led by a barrage of short and medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles, launched both from the ground and from Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Those, along with bomb attacks by aircraft, focused on airfields, barracks and ammunition depots.

So far, however, the Russians have not entered western Ukraine, and there have been "no indications" of an amphibious assault in the south from the Black Sea, despite reports of such an attack, the official said.

They have targeted the Ukraine military's command and control facilities but not public communications, which the official said "are still active."

There were no initial estimates of the damages to Ukraine's military.

"We have seen indications that they are resisting and fighting back," the official said.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced the United States was sending 7,000 more troops to Europe.

"They will deploy to Germany to reassure NATO Allies, deter Russian aggression and be prepared to support a range of requirements in the region," a Pentagon official said, adding they are expected to depart "in the coming days."

The 7,000 brings the number of soldiers sent from the United States to Europe to 12,000.