Newsweek: US expects Kiev to be captured within 96 hours

The US administration believes that Kiev will be captured within a few days, Newsweek writes, citing unnamed officials who commented on the situation on condition of anonymity.

Shortly thereafter, they say, the country’s resistance will be “effectively neutralized” and Ukrainian forces will be destroyed or forced to surrender.

Newsweek notes that the current situation, according to representatives of the intelligence community, is “only the first phase of the invasion.” “After the work of aviation and artillery is over, a real ground war will begin,” one of the ex-intelligence officers told the publication on condition of anonymity.

Recall, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that the Russian Armed Forces disable the military infrastructure of Ukraine, but do not launch rocket air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. Military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields and military aviation are disabled by high-precision weapons, the Defense Ministry explained, but there is no threat to the civilian population.

Early Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in the Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia,” adding that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

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