O Russian military advance in Kiev A senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday that the suspension was due to Ukrainian resistance and a shortage of fuel and food. “In general, we think the Russian military move to Kiev is at a standstill,” the official told reporters.

“We think part of it has to do with their own maintenance and logistics,” he added. “And, in general, … we believe that the Russians themselves are reorganizing and rethinking and trying to adapt to the challenges they face.”

Six days after Moscow invaded its former Soviet neighborhood, sources say a large Russian convoy north of Kiev is barely moving, but the U.S. believes it still intends to encircle the Ukrainian capital.

He also said that the Ukrainian army continues to challenge the occupying power and that the Russians have not gained control of the country’s airspace. They also failed to reach their first major target in Kharkiv, the second largest city in northeastern Ukraine, where the most intense fighting took place.

In the south, the Russians deployed their troops along the coast from Crimea to the eastern Russian border and laid siege to the port city of Mariupol.

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The Pentagon believes that the advance of the 150,000-strong Russian contingent to Ukraine (80% of which has already entered the country) is much slower than planned and that there is now a shortage of fuel and food supplies.

Although he did not provide evidence, the official said there were indications that anger was beginning to subside on the Russian side, which uses large-scale forced troops. “Apparently, not everyone is fully trained and prepared, or even warned that they will be sent to a combat operation,” the official said.