UK’s Defence Secretary said the Russian military was getting “more desperate”, as problems with logistics and morale slowed its encirclement of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

“It’s not going particularly well for the Russians, it’s day 13 — [they’re] way off their timetable,” Ben Wallace told Sky News on Tuesday. “Probably the biggest single casualties so far in the war are Russian soldiers who have been let down by appalling leaders.

“We’ve seen the [military] column is still stuck north of Kyiv. There are reports overnight of Ukrainian special forces destroying over 20 Russian helicopters on the ground,” he added.

Despite Russian advances in the south, US defence officials have noted morale problems among invading troops, who continue to be stymied in the north.

“We can see the Russians are having real logistics problems . . . they’re getting more desperate . . . because they’re shelling more and more innocent people,” said Wallace.