underperformed and a surprisingly strong resistance by ukrainian forces. a senior nato official says the war is approaching a stalemate with neither side able to gain superiority over the other. but the same official cautions vladimir putin is not about to admit failure, and the russian military is not backing down. resorting to less precise and more brutal weaponry against civilian targets, and reinforcements are being assembled. a similar assessment from the pentagon which says russian forces have failed to achieve their main objectives on the ground. and now, russia is turning to long-range strikes from cruise missiles and artillery fire. general mark hertling is a cnn military analyst and former commanding general for europe and seventh army. it s good to see you again. it s been a while. good to see you, john, thanks. tough circumstances. yeah. exactly. but let s get into this because cnn is reporting one reason for the russian military underperforming here is that the been un
will push them out of our territory. now, the russians are doing dirty tricks. they shoot more at civilian areas than positions of the ukrainian army. reporter: ukraine s army says it is pressing its own counteroffensive, trying to dislodge russian troops from the outskirts of kyiv. the kremlin s forces, meanwhile, so far unable to take the ukrainian capital. instead, laying waste to its suburbs. fred pleitgen, cnn, ukraine. joining me now from florida, cnn military analyst, retired lieutenant general mark hertling. he is the former u.s. army commander general for europe and seventh army. thanks very much for joining us. when the russians want to be precise, they are precise. they hit a fuel depot here a few miles away from my position. they hit an aircraft repair hangar, very precisely. but yet, in the suburbs of kyiv and in mariupol, they seem to be um fine with firing long-range missiles that are
you know, that s the question of the day, and, fred, truthfully, i m not even going to try to answer that because nobody can provide the accurate answer. a lot of people who are getting on tv saying this will cause it or that will cause it, they re all wrong. it s all in the minds of the president of russia. he is the one that is continuing to commit these atrocities and continue to execute this campaign, whether it s the one he initially started to execute over a month ago over the one he s thinking about continuing to execute. it s all to subjugate a foreign nation and the only thing that will stop this is mr. putin stopping it on his own or having his army completely destroyed, not defeat bud destroyed on the battlefield. and i think we ll see that soon because he has lost a very large percentage of his combat force already. and i think he is struggled to determine what to do next.
that they have additional measures, additional sanctions that could be on the table. so in the coming days, we will see whether the administration might trigger those sanctions going into effect, especially as they ve seen these brutal scenes playing out over and over by russia in ukraine. fred? arlette saenz at the white house, thank you. let s bring in lieutenant general mark hertling. a cnn military analyst and former army commanding general for europe and the seventh army. good to see you, general. what s your reaction to these images that we re seeing coming out of bucha? well, first, fred, what i ll do is provide you from wrote memory of genocide. inhumane treatment which are all defined in law of captured combatants or civilians. and anyone who orders or commits or aids and abets others in doing any of those things is responsible for the crime.
but i think his army, his military, is on the verge of being destroyed, not defeated. and there s a difference between the two. general mark hertling, thank you so much. appreciate you. still to come police in sacramento are asking the public for information about a shooting that left six people dead and another ten injured. the latest on the search for a suspect or suspects. plus, dhs is preparing for a worst case scenario at the southern border after news that a trump-era restriction will soon be lifted. we ll take you live to texas, next. k you choose. try boost glucose control®. it s clinically shown to help manage blood sugarar levels and contains high quauality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® todayay.