Russia's advance on Kyiv hit more resistance and is moving slower than expected, US defense official says

A senior US defense official told reporters on Friday that Russia appears to have lost a bit of steam.

The official said that Russian forces are not moving as fast as they anticipated and are meeting more resistance than they expected.

Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine early Thursday morning, entering the country from several directions, with many of its forces pushing towards the capital city of Kyiv. Russian forces have been attacking other cities.

There have been differing casualty counts for both the defenders and the invaders, but there are indications that the Russians are sustaining losses.

It looked as though Russian forces were expecting a quicker collapse of the Ukrainian military, according to Michael Kofman.

He said that it is unclear if Russian forces reached initial objectives, but the best estimate is that they expected more rapid gains.

The UK's Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that Russia is behind its hoped for timetable when he spoke to British media.

Wallace told Sky News that Russia has not taken any of its major objectives and that Putin intends to invade the whole of Ukraine.

The senior US defense official who spoke to reporters Friday said that no major population centers have been taken, but the official added that the US believes Russia has committed only a third of its forces to the fight.

The official said that they have a lot of power at their disposal.