Image source, Reuters Image caption,

Ukrainian soldiers have liberated villages during the counter-offensive, but President Zelensky acknowledges progress has been slow

By Alexandra Fouché

BBC News

Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia will be difficult and "very bloody", the US' highest-ranking military officer has said.

Gen Mark Milley said he was unsurprised that progress had been slower than predicted - but added that Ukraine was "advancing steadily".

"It goes a little slow, but that is part of the nature of war," he said.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the offensive was making slow progress.

Gen Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told an audience at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday that the counter-offensive was "advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields... 500m a day, 1,000m a day, 2,000m a day, that kind of thing".

He added he was not surprised that progress had been slower than expected. "War on paper and real war are different. In real war, real people die," he said.