Russian forces close in on Ukraine’s capital as death toll mounts

The House held a classified briefing on Ukraine with the White House national security team on Monday. One member who was in the room told CBS News that the timetable laid out in the briefing showed that Kyiv would likely be “encircled within days.” How long it takes for Kyiv to fall depends on Ukrainians’ will to fight, the member said, adding that giving specifics is like shooting in the dark. The member stressed there are still a lot of unknowns, including what exactly Russia’s strategy will be in Kyiv.

Representative Andy Kim, a former member of the National Security Council, told CBS News that “today was very sobering in terms of telling us how this is probably going to go on for a very protracted amount of time.

“I think we’re seeing a lot of that will to fight on the Ukrainian side and hopefulness about things,” Kim added. “I think, you know, they’re going to come up against some real challenges here, just as this battle continues. I think there was a sense from this briefing that Russia, while they’ve had some setbacks, they have amassed so much force that they, over time, they continue to be able to just wear down the Ukrainians, especially if the Ukrainians are going to have difficulty in terms of getting resupply and other efforts there.” 

House Armed Services Committee chair Adam Smith said what stood out was bipartisan commitment to helping Ukraine “in any way we can,” particularly with respect to weapons and humanitarian assistance. As with other members, he confirmed the briefers did give estimates about when Kyiv might fall, but refused to give specifics. 

Smith said there was no discussion of a no-fly zone in the House classified briefing. 

Congressman Colin Allred, a Texas Democrat, said Putin’s nuclear threat did come up, but would not go into detail. “The only thing I could say is we’re taking it very seriously,” Allred said.

-Caroline Linton, Ellis Kim, Nikole Killion