“This does not come as a surprise to the American intelligence and national security communities,” Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“What it shows is that Vladimir Putin is frustrated by the fact that his forces are not making the kind of progress that he thought that they would make against major cities including Kyiv, that he’s expanding the number of targets, that he’s lashing out and he’s trying to cause damage in every part of the country,” Sullivan added.
Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week” that it’s the third military facility or airfield that the Russians have hit in western Ukraine.
“So, clearly, at least from an air strike perspective, they’re broadening their target sets.”
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, the Ukraine caucus co-chair, was in Poland during the strike and said the bombing could be heard from just a few miles across the border.
“It’s very sad. People are very emotional about their homes being destroyed, leaving their loved ones behind, a lot of grandmothers with grandchildren. People are just distraught,” Portman said on CNN.
The Republican senator echoed calls coming from Ukrainians for additional intervention.
“The message they’re giving us is loud and clear, if you can imagine, which is close the skies because the skies are where the bombs are coming, whether the missile attacks or airplane attacks or artillery,” Portman said.
Kirby, however, said that a no-fly zone isn’t likely.
“I mean, no-fly zone has a nice air policing sound to it, but I participated in one as a young officer on an aircraft carrier way back in the early ‘90s. It is combat. You have to be willing to shoot and to be shot at.”
Additionally, fears of a chemical weapons attack are at the forefront of U.S. concerns. The U.S. acknowledged this week Russia has the capability to conduct them.
Sullivan said that Russia’s claim that the United States and Ukraine would use chemical or biological weapons is a sign that they may be preparing to do so and then put the blame elsewhere.
“As things stand today, the United States has not adjusted our nuclear posture, but it is something that we monitor day by day, hour-by-hour because it is of paramount priority to the president,” Sullivan said.