The Russians expected to be further away from their goal of trapping Ukrainian troops in the east, and believed that this would have been achieved by now, according to Pentagon estimates. They are “nowhere near” their goal of fully encircling Ukrainian forces, the official said. Russian forces are making slow, uneven and gradual progress in eastern and southern Ukraine, according to the official, in part because they are wary of the superiority of supply lines, as they were in northern Ukraine at the beginning of the invasion, and also because of the effectiveness of the Ukrainian resistance.
“They are not moving very fast,” the official said. “A few miles a day is about the maximum they can handle.” The Russians have now engaged 92 regular battalion groups, generally consisting of 800 to 1,000 soldiers, in the fight in Ukraine. The official warned that although the Russians have a numerical advantage over the Ukrainians, the fighting in Donbass could be long, as both sides know the ground and both sides use long-range artillery in battle. To the east, the Russians are concentrating on moving from the Izyum along three main axes – southwest to Dobropillya, slightly southeast to Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, and further southeast to Lyman. The Russians are also trying to push the port from an eastern city they control, Kremina. About a dozen Russian battalion regiments are in and around Mariupol, but some of them started moving north towards Zaporizhzhia this week. The Russians continue to strike Mariupol from the air, which shows that they still do not control the city. The Russians are conducting limited attacks in the east at the same time as they are conducting what the Pentagon calls “reconnaissance operations” to prepare for a larger attack. Russia initially invaded Ukraine on various fronts and has now focused on the smaller geographical area of ​​Donbass, where Ukrainian troops have been fighting Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Turning east, US and NATO allies began to give in Ukraine heavier weapons such as artillery before an expected prolonged battle. So far, more than 60 percent of the 90 US-made artillery shells have reached Ukraine, according to the Pentagon. Once the weapons enter Ukraine, the US does not monitor them, so it is not clear whether the firearms have reached the front line in the Donbas region yet. The howitzers are new to the Ukrainian armed forces and require some training. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby announced on Friday that some Ukrainians were being trained in shells and other systems at US military installations in Germany. One hundred and sixty members of the Florida National Guard trained Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine before leaving in early February for the invasion, and are now conducting most of the training in the systems, according to Kirby. All training takes place outside Ukraine. There were emotional moments between the guards and some of the Ukrainian soldiers during their recent reunion due to the ties formed before the invasion, Kirby said. The artillery and other equipment announced in the recent aid packages are in line with what the Ukrainians have called for in anticipation of a fierce battle in the east. More Eleanor Watson CBS News reporter covering the Pentagon.