A Ukrainian soldier walks in the town of Schastia in Eastern Ukraine. Photo: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images
Kyiv could be targeted in a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, a senior NATO intelligence official has told VICE World News.NATO allies working with the US intelligence community have concurred that the deployment of Russian forces around Ukraine indicate plans for a broader move against Ukraine than just the breakaway areas in the east of the country that Vladimir Putin recognised as independent states earlier this week.Kyiv could also be a target for encirclement by Russian forces, said the NATO official, who is based in Brussels. The claim isn’t based on intelligence intercepts but rather on the order of battle of Russian forces arrayed on the border.
That the Ukrainian capital, home to almost 3 million people, could be directly targeted by Russian forces is also being reported by other outlets, who are citing NATO, US and UK intelligence assessments.