Pentagon chief: ‘You could see a significant amount of combat power move very quickly to take Kyiv’

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday said Ukraine may witness “a significant amount of combat power move very quickly to take Kyiv” if Russia invades Ukraine.

Austin, during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” said the international community should “look at what’s on the other side of the Ukrainian border” to discern the type of force Russia would use in the event of a military incursion against Ukraine.

“So in terms of the types of things that could happen, one only need to look at what’s on the other side of the Ukrainian border,” Austin said.

He specifically pointed to sightings of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and rocket forces, calling the situation “potentially very, very dangerous.”

“We see a lot of tanks and armored vehicles there. We see a lot of artillery. We see rocket forces,” Austin said.

“If he employs that kind of combat power, it will certainly create enormous casualties within the civilian population and so this could create a tragedy, quite frankly, in terms of refugee flow and displaced people. So this is potentially very, very dangerous,” he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Asked by ABC’s Martha Raddatz if tanks may start moving into Kyiv, Austin said “you could see that,” adding that such a situation is “highly likely.”

Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin tells @martharaddatz that it’s “highly likely” that Russian tanks could enter Kyiv if Russia invades Ukraine.

“You could see a significant amount of combat power move very quickly to take Kyiv.” https://t.co/0mXhbbrGyt pic.twitter.com/hg6PatOmqo

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 20, 2022

Austin’s comments come after President Biden on Friday said he is “convinced” that Putin “made the decision” to invade Ukraine. He did, however, emphasize that a diplomatic path forward is still an option if Moscow decides to deescalate.

Pressed by Raddatz on if Putin may be bluffing, the Pentagon chief said, “No, I don’t believe it’s a bluff.”

“I think he’s assembled the right kind — the kinds of things that you would need to conduct a successful invasion,” he added.