U.S. official says a full-scale ground assault against Ukraine likely to begin within hours

A U.S. official said Wednesday night that the explosions being reported in multiple Ukrainian cities are preliminary bombardments to be followed by a full-scale ground assault, Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports.

US STATE DEPARTMENT.- “It’s begun,” the unidentified official told Griffin, who posted on Twitter that explosions have been heard in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Odessa, and Mariupol. Griffin also wrote that the official told her the Russian ground attack would likely commence after several hours of bombardment and include “all of the full forces Putin has arrayed.”

Recent estimates put the number of Russian troops deployed along Ukraine’s border at 190,000.

#BREAKING: #Russia Navy has he port of #Odessa in #Ukraine under attack. Also heavy artillery and rocket barrage by BM-21 & BM-27 MRLS of #Russian Army at #Ukrine Army positions in #Kramatorsk now👇 pic.twitter.com/P3jpE2Cbcw

— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) February 24, 2022

Journalist Babak Taghvaee tweeted that Russia’s navy has attacked the port of Odessa and posted a video purportedly showing Russian artillery and rocket barrages directed against the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech early Thursday that he has authorized a military operation in Ukraine after the two Russian-aligned breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine asked him to intervene against the Ukrainian military.

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