Russia intends to replace Ukraine government, US official says

President Joe Biden met Thursday morning with his national security team and world leaders, ahead of a midday speech on Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The military operation launched in Ukraine’s predawn hours by Russian President Vladimir Putin has the goal of overtaking the Ukrainian government and installing a Kremlin-backed one, according to a senior U.S. military official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The invasion is the largest in Europe since World War II, the official said. The fighting has the potential to be very bloody and very costly.

International condemnation of Putin’s attack against Ukraine mounted, as U.S. and Western allies prepared to impose punishing sanctions against Moscow for a stunning full-scale invasion that global leaders had been warning about for weeks.

Ukraine’s defense ministry said it was fighting Russia in both the country’s north and south, and included an attempted takeover of the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

“This is a brutal act of war,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

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Here’s what to know about Russia’s attack on Ukraine:

WHEN DID THE INVASION START? At roughly 9:30 p.m. ET (4:30 a.m. in Ukraine), Russian forces began a military operation in eastern Ukraine.

HOW DID BIDEN RESPOND: Biden joined Group of Seven leaders in a meeting Thursday morning. He is expected to announce the harshest sanctions possible against Russia at 12:30 p.m. ET.

HAS PUTIN SAID ANYTHING? Russian president has not made any comments since his declaration of war was televised in Russia. He met with the president of Pakistan at the Kremlin on Thursday.

WHERE IS THE FIGHTING? Ukraine’s military chief says Ukrainian troops are fighting the Russian army in in the north and the south.

Explosions were heard in major cities, including the capital of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa. Oleksii Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said at least 40 people had been killed and dozens of others wounded in the attack so far. Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces had hit military assets and other defence facilities, while footage shared by Ukrainian border guards showed Russian military vehicles moving across the border from Crimea.

(USA Today)