US official: Russia is making 'minimal at best' progress in eastern Ukraine

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A senior U.S. official said Monday that Russia’s military has been making "minimal progress at best" in eastern Ukraine because the "Ukrainians have really been resisting quite well." 

The remark comes as Russia is now on day 68 of its invasion of Ukraine, with its military focusing on capturing the eastern parts of the war-torn country. 

"I would just tell that we continue to see minimal at best progress by the Russians in the Donbas," the official told reporters. 

Russian soldiers are seen standing atop their military vehicles near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in southeastern Ukraine on Sunday, May 1. (AP)

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The official said the Russian military is "still suffering from poor command and control, low morale and many units [have] less than ideal logistics. 

The official also spoke of a "casualty aversion that we continue to see by the Russians now, not just in the air, but on the ground." 

A Ukrainian soldier walks past the turret of a Russian tank next to a destroyed gas station in the village of Skybyn, northeast of Kyiv on Monday, May 2. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

"So very, very cautious, very tepid, very uneven work by them on the ground," the official also said. "And in some cases, quite frankly, the best word to describe it would be anemic." 

Ukrainian soldiers are seen riding on an armored presonnel carrier during an exercise not far from Kharkiv on April 30.

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As of Monday, Ukrainian forces have pushed the Russian army about 25 miles away from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, according to the official. 

"They were obviously hoping to get Kharkiv and hold it so that they could have that ability to continue to push down from the north and the Ukrainians are making it difficult for them to do that," the U.S. official said.  

Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this report.