Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/picture-alliance/dpa/AP In this October 2019 file photo, a convoy of US Army vehicles drives towards Poland to participate in Operation Atlantic Resolve to ensure the operational readiness of NATO troops. This is due in part to the fact that Ukrainian air defenses have performed better than pre-invasion US intelligence assessments had anticipated.īut US intelligence and defense officials closely tracking the Russian campaign say that Putin still holds a number of moves in reserve that could devastate the Ukrainian resistance. On the battlefield, Russia is suffering heavier losses in personnel and armor and aircraft than expected. That resistance has been “stiffer than expected” and Russia has had unexpected difficulties supplying its forces, two senior US officials with direct knowledge told CNN. Russia’s larger and far better-equipped military has, faced determined resistance across the country, as ordinary Ukrainians and reservists have joined efforts to defend their families and homes, frustrating Moscow’s attempts. Military aged men have been ordered to stay in Ukraine, while countless others have fled westwards towards Poland or Romania. Missile strikes and street fighting have raged in the days since. Elsewhere, explosions rang out in multiple cities, including the capital Kyiv. Some of those forces began pouring across the border, crossing into Ukraine from the north in Belarus and to the south from Crimea, according to the Ukrainian State Border Service. In late 2021 and early 2022, fears heightened as satellite images revealed new Russian deployments of troops, tanks, artillery and other equipment cropping up in multiple locations, including near eastern Ukraine, Crimea and Belarus, where its forces were participating in joint drills with Moscow’s closest international ally. At least 150,000 Russian troops encircled the country on three sides, like a sickle, according to estimates from US and Ukrainian intelligence officials. The move came after months of speculation about what Moscow’s intentions were with the troops it had massed on the Ukrainian border. Several areas across Ukraine came under attack on Thursday morning after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the start of a “special military operation” and warned of bloodshed unless Ukrainian forces lay down their arms. So how did we get here? The picture on the ground is shifting rapidly, but here’s a breakdown of what we know. Russia’s attack on the country has also sparked an intense showdown between Western powers and Moscow.
The escalation in a years-long conflict between the nations has now triggered the greatest security crisis in Europe since the Cold War. Now those troops are engaged in combat with Ukrainians for control of the country. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Imagesįrenzied diplomatic efforts early this year failed to avert the worst-case scenario. Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, on Thursday.
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