Russian troops invading Ukraine are plagued by poor morale. They also lack fuel and food. Some Russian military units surrender en masse or leave their equipment to avoid combat.
This was reported to The New York Times on Tuesday by a high rank Pentagon official.
"Some Russian military units laid down their arms without a fight after facing a surprisingly tough defense of Ukraine," he said. A significant part of the Russian troops are young conscripts who are poorly trained and poorly prepared for a full-scale offensive. In some cases, the Russian military deliberately punched holes in the gas tanks of their vehicles, presumably to avoid a fight."
These factors may explain why Russian troops have not come close to Kyiv in the last day or two, said a spokesman for the US Department of Defense.
According to him, the Russian Aerospace Forces have not yet managed to gain an advantage in the air over Ukraine, as Ukrainian fighters, as well as a surprisingly stable and powerful complex of air defense, from Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to much larger surface-to-air missiles, stop Russian military aircrafts.
According to General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the estimated losses of the enemy from February 24 to 6 am on March 1 in the war against Ukraine are 5,710 casualties and 200 captives. 29 planes and 29 helicopters were destroyed and damaged. Russia also lost 198 tanks, 846 armoured fighting vehicles, 77 artillery systems, 7 air defense systems, 24 light artillery rocket systems, 60 fuel tanks, 3 UAVs, two motorboats, 305 vehicles.