US says Russian advance in Kyiv has stalled

a Russian military advance in Kyiv A senior US defense official said Tuesday that his pause was due to Ukrainian resistance and fuel and food shortages. “In general, we feel that the Russian military movement … towards Kyiv is currently halted,” the official told reporters.

“We think part of that is about maintenance and logistics,” he added. “And we also think, in general, that the Russians themselves are regrouping and rethinking and trying to adapt to the challenges they face.”

Six days after Moscow invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor, the source said, a huge Russian convoy is barely moving north of Kyiv, but the US believes it still intends to encircle the Ukrainian capital.

In addition, he said that the Ukrainian army continues to defy the invading force and that the Russians have not controlled the country’s skies. They also failed to reach their first major target, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, in the northeast, where the most intense fighting took place.

In the south, the Russians spread their forces along the coast from Crimea to the Russian border in the east and besieged the port of Mariupol.

see also

The Pentagon believes that the advance of Russia’s combat force of 150,000 troops into Ukraine (about 80% have already entered the country) has been much slower than planned and is now facing shortages in supplies such as fuel and food.

The official also said, although he did not provide evidence, that there are indications that anger is fading on the Russian side, which is using large numbers of recruits. “Apparently, not everyone was fully trained and prepared, or even warned that they would be sent into a combat operation,” the official said.