On Tuesday, just hours before President Joe Biden is to address Americans in his State of the Union Address, a senior U.S. defense official announced Russia’s military advancement on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, has “stalled.”
The official said, “We generally sense that the Russia military movement to Kyiv is stalled at this point,” in a briefing to reporters. Specifically, the official noted that a 40-mile long convoy of Russian military vehicles has not made meaningful progress in recent hours towards reaching the capital.
The Russian convoy has been spotted in satellite imagery, and according to the official, some troops are running out of food, and the U.S. has indications that several Russian units may be surrendering without a fight.
A “significant number” of Russian soldiers are “very young men drafted into service” said the official. “Many of them weren’t even aware that they would be sent into a combat zone.”
In a speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said attacks have left “dozens” dead. On Monday night, Zelensky posted a video to his Facebook page saying, “Today, Russian troops shelled Kharkiv using rocket artillery.”
“This is, without any doubt, a military crime. A peaceful city, Peaceful residential neighborhoods. Not a single military object in sight” he said of the attack.
