US official: Signs Russian troops are running out of food and fuel
The US continues to see “heavy fighting in and around Kharkiv” and the area “remains heavily contested,” a senior US defense official told reporters on Tuesday — the sixth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the southern part of the country, the US continues to see Russian forces make “more progress,” and have “more success down there, in terms of moving along their axes,” the official said.
The Russian forces are advancing on two axes in the south. From Crimea, there is one part that goes off to the northwest and one that goes to the northeast, the official said.
The Ukrainian city of Kherson appears “very much to be a contested city at this point,” the official said.
From the northeast, Russian forces are “still outside Mariupol” and “they have not advanced inside the city” yet, the official said.
“They are close enough now that they could attack Mariupol with long-range fires, and again we haven’t seen a whole lot of activity, but we don’t believe that they’re in Mariupol,” the official added.
The US does believe Russian forces are occupying Berdyansk and Melitopol, which is west of Berdyansk and further in from the coast of the Sea of Azov, the official said.
“Again if you draw that line from Mariupol to Kharkiv, we can see a continued desire from the Russians to sort of connect on those two lines, they haven’t made much progress, but we still believe that’s their intent,” the official added.
Here’s a map to help understand where the Russians stand in Ukraine:
