At roughly 9:30 p.m. ET, Russian forces began a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s military chief says Ukrainian troops are fighting the Russian army in in the north and the south. A Ukrainian official says the Chernobyl nuclear site north of Kyiv has been taken by Russia after a fierce battle. Early reports listed 40 casualties. "[Putin] wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union," President Joe Biden said. "His ambitions are completely contrary to the place where the rest of the world has arrived." Russia's military operation has the goal of overtaking the Ukrainian government and installing a Kremlin-backed one, according to a senior U.S. military official who was not authorized to speak publicly. #russia #ukraine