Russia‘s long-range guns stepped up their bombardment of Ukraine‘s capital city of Kyiv Tuesday, even as Russia‘s armored invasion forces remain bogged down by a stiffer-than-expected Ukrainian opposition and their own tactical and strategic failings, U.S. military officials said.
On Day 20 of President Vladimir Putin’s war against his neighbor, Pentagon officials on Tuesday said the Russian ground forces made “limited to no progress” in achieving their objectives. Kyiv remains the prime target of the offensive, with civilian targets, including residential areas, being struck with “increasing frequency” by longer-range Russian artillery, officials said. While besieged, Kyiv, Kharkiv and other major Ukrainian cities are still holding out against the larger and better armed Russian forces.
“Russian forces are still on the outside of Kharkiv where, as before, they face stiff Ukrainian resistance,” a senior Defense Department official at the Pentagon said Tuesday. “Chernihiv remains isolated, but we still assess that Ukrainians are working to keep a line of communication open.”
A 40-mile long Russian resupply convoy heading toward Kyiv continues to have no success in reaching Ukraine’s capital city. “It is still stuck,” said the Defense Department official. A senior Ukrainian official told reporters that he expects the Russian offensive to bog down and pull out within weeks owing to the inability to bring in fresh supplies or trained troops.
The Russians have fired more than 950 missiles into Ukraine in the three weeks since the campaign began, with no new strikes into western Ukraine to report. They still have about 90% of their combat power available to them, officials said.
While Russia has lost thousands of troops and dozens of military vehicles to the war with Ukraine, there is no indication the government is replacing or reinforcing the original invasion force, officials said.
But “we do have reason to believe the Russians are considering their resupply and managing options,” the Defense official said.
The Defense Department official said he had no new information about Russian chemical or biological weapons inside Ukraine and couldn’t confirm reports about the deaths of several high-ranking Russian military officers.