Russian forces 20 miles outside Kyiv: US says Moscow planning puppet govt

Russian forces on Friday morning launched fresh pre-dawn attacks on Kyiv, nearly 24 hours after Moscow began its multipronged operation in Ukraine.

Anton Geraschenko, a Ukrainian official, was quoted by media outlets as saying Russia had launched new attacks on Kiev using cruise or ballistic missiles.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday told lawmakers that Russian forces were “20 miles (32km) outside of Kyiv”, Axios reported.

The remark by Austin highlighted US fears about Russian intentions on Kyiv.

A US Department of Defense statement said “There is fighting within 20 miles of the center of Kyiv—the Ukrainian capital—as well as fighting around the eastern city of Kharkiv and in the southern part of the beleaguered country...” An official said “These three axes are … clearly designed to take key population centers.”

The official said “It's our assessment that [Russian forces] have every intention of basically, decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance, which would explain these early moves towards Kyiv.”

Axios reported that Austin told House lawmakers on Thursday the Joe Biden administration is considering ways to train Ukrainian forces remotely. Axios reported the Biden administration would support the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “as long as it remained 'viable,' raising questions about continued U.S. assistance if the president flees the country, is captured or is killed in combat.”

Austin acknowledged that providing more military equipment to Ukraine now was difficult given the presence of Russian forces across the country.

US Senator Marco Rubio, Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, had been warning Russia would shift focus to taking control of Kyiv. He tweeted on Friday morning “We have only seen the opening phase of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s barbaric plan, but it has been more difficult than he expected There are now indications Kyiv may soon be the focus of his rage, and then the entire world would come face to face with a depravity not seen in 80 years.”

Rubio had tweeted earlier on Thursday Russia would attempt to install a puppet regime after encircling Kyiv. He wrote “Russia plans to encircle Kyiv, force the legitimate govt of Ukraine to flee & install Vichy Ukranian puppets Key to this plan is a large #Russian Airborne Forces operation. We may see an attempt to execute on that operation within a matter of hours…”