Putin has decided to further invade Ukraine, Biden says

By

Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press

,

Yuras Karmanau, The Associated Press

,

Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press

and
In this photo provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, a Russian soldier attends a military exercising at the Golovenki training ground in the Moscow region, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to further invade Ukraine, President Joe Biden said Friday afternoon.

“As of this moment I’m convinced he’s made the decision,” Biden said during a televised address. “We have reason to believe it.”

When pushed on what evidence he has, Biden said “really significant intelligence capability.”

Biden said that “over the last few days, we’ve seen reports of a major uptick in violations of the ceasefire. by Russian-backed fighters attempting to provoke Ukraine in Donbas.. a shelling of a Ukrainian kindergarten yesterday, which Russia has falsely asserted was carried out by Ukraine. We also continue to see more and more disinformation be pushed out by to the Russian public, including Russian backed separatists, claiming that Ukraine is planning to launch a massive offensive attack.”

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