US Intelligence Report Says Ukraine's Fierce Resistance Makes Russia's Invasion No Longer On Schedule

Buildings in Ukraine destroyed by the Russian invasion. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Ukraine has kept its promise to provide fierce resistance to Russia. And that's also what made the schedule change - if you don't want to be called a failure - regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Guardian on Tuesday, March 1, got a leak of a secret US government briefing attended by US Senator, Chris Murphy, about the Russian invasion. He said the Russian invasion was behind schedule due to fierce local resistance and logistical failures.

Seeing that Russia has not succeeded in controlling Ukraine, it can't be just one-sided. After all, the world's operation that imposes sanctions like a tsunami on Russia will surely hit the country indirectly.

The latest is the attitude of Hollywood film studios, Disney and Warner. They have cut ties with the state of Vladimir Putin.

The Walt Disney Co is discontinuing theatrical film releases in Russia, starting with Pixar's upcoming release, Turning Red.

Within hours, WarnerMedia said it would halt this week's release of The Batman in Russia.

The fall of the ruble has also hit the side of the Russian economy. Russian citizens began to take to the streets and try to withdraw money from banks.

Russia could soon be facing a severe recession.

"I will tell them that we are entering a crisis as we have never experienced before. It is like flying on a plane without an engine or the engine is on fire", said a Russian businessman.

It does not make sense to compare the military power of Ukraine with Russia. But it would also be a big mistake to judge that Ukraine could not do anything if war broke out.

The long war has left Ukraine with half a million combat-experienced veterans. That does not include the official or unofficial.

"The Russian army has better weapons and technical equipment than ours. So we may lose the battle. But they can never win the country if the Ukrainian people are motivated", said Serhiy Kryvonos, a retired special forces general and former deputy secretary of the national security and defense council, as reported by The Guardian, Wednesday, February 23.

Kryvonos has been touring the country. Meet with many veterans to organize weapons training and prepare for a popular uprising in case the Russians attack.

And he took the example of what happened to Afghanistan.

The world was shocked when suddenly the Taliban managed to control every inch of the country. Even though behind Afghanistan, there are many countries with military strength which on paper count are not opponents for the Taliban.

"Look at the Afghan experience. It could not be held by the Soviet Union, by the US, by the UK", he said.

Even so, Russian troops did continue to push into Kyiv. Maxar Technologies in its detailed image said it saw a large convoy of 40+ miles of Russian military vehicles snaking along the highway northwest of Kyiv.

It's easy to track where the hundreds of tanks, artillery tows, armored vehicles, and logistics vehicles are coming from.

In Ukraine, northwest of Kyiv, all roads lead to Belarus. Highways and bridges in Chernobyl - a city, not a failed nuclear reactor - end in Belarus. Every other main road northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, ends in Belarus, which borders northern Ukraine.

The buildup of Russian troops: During the weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia assembled its forces in Belarus.

In fact, additional satellite imagery from Maxar shows that Russia is steadily increasing the number of military vehicles, airpower, and weaponry in Belarus. From the city of Brest in the east of the country to Gomel in the west, Russian troops keep popping up at air bases, in cities, and even in the fields via satellite imagery and social media.