Putin tells Russians the brutal and poorly planned war on Ukraine is going 'according to plan'

One week after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine, he has said the war is going according to plan.

According to a Kremlin statement obtained by the news agency, Putin told the French president that Russia's goals in Ukraine will be fulfilled and that the war is going according to plan.

Evidence on the ground suggests that the war has been poorly planned and brutal.

Russian forces captured Kherson, the first major city to be seized by Putin's army.

A 40-mile long convoy of Russian military vehicles appears to have stopped on its way to the capital city of Ukraine, and videos have surfaced showing vehicles abandoned on the sides of the roads by Russian forces.

Children in Russian schools were told to watch a broadcast of the liberation mission in Ukraine, the latest in a series of baseless pretexts that Russian officials gave leading up to the invasion.

The West has united in its response to Putin, leading to costly sanctions and other punishments as a means to try and strangle the Russian economy.

Despite an early show of fierce Ukrainian resistance, experts warn that the fight is far from over.

Michael Kofman, the Russia expert at the Center for a New American Security, said that he thinks we're going to see a different Russian approach moving forward.

Western officials have warned that Russia's lack of anticipated progress in Ukraine could lead to Putin launching a more aggressive approach.