Russia’s advance on Kyiv slow, despite intensifying attacks: US official

Russia has fired more than 400 missiles since it began its invasion of Ukraine six days ago, though its advance on Kyiv has made little progress from a day prior, a senior defense official said Tuesday. 

Facing “fuel and logistics challenges,” including a lack of food, the Russian advance on Kyiv remains “basically … where it was yesterday,” the official told reporters. 

“They continue to be bogged down coming down from the north to get to Kyiv,” the official said. 

Beyond logistics, possible reasons for the slow advance include fierce Ukrainian resistance as well as “evidence of a certain risk-averse behavior by the Russian military.” 

In the air, “they are not necessarily willing to take high risks with their own aircraft and their own pilots.” And on the ground, some units “are surrendering, sometimes without a fight,” according to the official.

“A lot of these soldiers are conscripts, never been in combat before, some of whom we believe weren’t even told they were going to be in combat, so we’re just seeing evidence of a bit of risk aversion,” they said.

The U.S. also has “indications that morale is flagging in some of these units” due to the unexpected resistance, the official added.

The official noted, however, that it’s still less than a week into the invasion and that Russia “will regroup,” “adjust” and “change their tactics.”

The official also offered a caveat that “we certainly aren’t seeing them be risk-averse when it comes to civilian casualties and civilian infrastructure.” 

That statement has been backed up by a group of Ukrainian journalists who have organized a fact-checking service for reporters not on the ground in the country.   

The group said attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, have become a norm for Russian invaders. 

They pointed to a rocket-fired grenade attack on Tuesday on densely populated areas of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city. The shelling killed dozens and wounded many more, they wrote in a daily digest sent Tuesday morning to The Hill. 

“We are confident that the strategy to shell civilian houses and streets has been selected consciously by Russians to create chaos and bring the communities to despair and panic,” the group wrote. 

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on Tuesday said Russia had attacked Kyiv’s main broadcasting tower, taking some television channels offline in what officials said was part of Moscow’s disinformation campaign. 

Russia’s military also has reportedly warned Kyiv residents to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of planned strikes, which the U.S. believes will grow heavier as the Kremlin becomes frustrated with its limited progress. 

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Washington has observed continued “heavy fighting in and around Kharkiv,” while Kherson — the closest major city to the Crimean Peninsula — appears “very much to be a contested city at this point,” the official said. 

In the south, Russian forces have made “more progress” after moving troops north from the Crimean Peninsula.  

Still, Russia has not yet achieved air superiority, and Ukrainian missile defense systems remain “viable and intact and engaged,” the official said.