As Russian diplomats evacuated their embassy in the capital, the Ukrainian government said a massive cyber-attack had targeted ministries and banks yesterday.
Officials have warned that Russia could use elements of hybrid warfare to sow confusion before launching an all-out military assault.
According to several media reports, confirmed by the Guardian, the White House warned the pro-western government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy to expect a large-scale offensive in the next 48 hours. The north-eastern city of Kharkiv, 25 miles from the border with Russia, is at particular risk, CNN reported, citing US intelligence.
“They have advanced their readiness where they are literally ready to go now if they get the order to go now,” a senior US defense official told reporters. “We assess today that he is near 100% of all the forces we anticipated he would move in,” the official said, adding that 80% of those forces were in combat-ready positions. “They have plans to use reserves and their equivalent of the national guard. The implication would be that they have long-term goals here.”
The Biden administration’s predictions of imminent attack have been wrong before, with a date given of last Wednesday – February 16. But US, UK, and Ukrainian officials all concur that Vladimir Putin has to move in the next few days, or risk exhausting his troops waiting on the border.
The latest in a series of massive cyber-attacks launched against the country began as Ukraine declared a 30-day state of emergency starting today that allows authorities to impose curfews and restrictions on movement, block rallies, and ban political parties and organizations “in the interests of national security and public order”.
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