Russian momentum slowed by 'stiff resistance': US official
The momentum of Russian forces in Ukraine appears to have been slowed by fuel and logistics shortages and by "stiff resistance," according to a U.S. senior defense official.
The defense official said Russian troops appear to be having fuel and logistics shortages near Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine and with units advancing from the north to Kyiv, the capital city, but also credited the slow down of the Russian invasion to the resistance.
The official said they believe the advance was slowed in part "by resistance by the Ukrainians who have been quite creative in finding ways to attack columns."

The official said the Russians have still not taken any cities. The main Russian advance forces designated for Kyiv are roughly 19 miles from the city center, according to the official, who added that there is fighting inside the city center due to Russian reconnaissance units there.
"We're certainly not disputing that there's fighting going on in Kyiv, but it is at a fairly low level," the official said.
The officials said there is "no reason to doubt" reports of Russian reconnaissance units wearing Ukrainian uniforms to try to disguise themselves and what they're doing.
Russia has launched 320 missiles against Ukraine since the invasion began last week, and its troops have adopted alarming "siege tactics" around the northern Ukraine city of Chernihiv.
"They've had trouble around Chernihiv, and it appears that they are adopting a siege mentality, which any student of military tactics and strategy in history will tell you when you adopt siege tactics, it increases the likelihood of collateral damage to civilian infrastructure as well as to civilian life because a siege basically becomes an all-out effort to take a city without regard to civilian infrastructure," the official said. "So that's worrying and that's concerning. And we're seeing the beginnings of that sort of tactical approach by the Russians."
The official said Russia has committed two-thirds of its combat power designated to the Ukraine invasion.
"They have a third of it that has not been committed," the official said. "They have a significant amount of combined arms capabilities still at their at their beck and call."






