MOSCOW, March 24 (islamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. and British alliance, pushing north from the Kuwait border towards Baghdad, confronted bloody resistance from the Iraqi army Monday, March 24.

The U.S.-led coalition to invade and occupy Iraq suffered their heaviest losses yet, despite fooling itself into thinking it would win the war quickly and easily, the Russian press warned Monday.

"In the fourth day of the Iraqi operation, it is clear that the allies have not succeeded in waging 'a small victorious war,'" the daily Gazeta wrote.

Russia is fiercely opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq and led failed efforts in the UN Security Council to resolve the issue of the country's alleged weapons of mass destruction through diplomacy and increased inspections.

"Despite the hopes of the U.S. administration, the regime of Saddam Hussein did not fall to ruins after the first strike," said respected business daily Vedomosti.

"In the face of massive American and British attacks, the Iraqis did not give up by the thousands, weapons of mass destruction were not found, Hussein was not killed and the victims are growing not only among soldiers but among civilians as well," it wrote.

"The hope of a rapid capitulation in Iraq has not been realized," it said, adding that "for now, there are no signs that the Iraqi army is crumbling."

"The allies have felt the bitterness of loss in Iraq," the daily Vremya Novostei wrote.

"The first combats showed that they risk avoiding a quick war -- the Iraqi army is not vanquished, the anti-air defense is not destroyed, the direction of the country is not demoralized," it said.

For the U.S. administration "to ignore the blood and corpses of its citizens will not be as easy as it was to turn its back on the UN Security Council," Vremya Novostei said.

Russia Urges UNSC For 'Political, Legal' Assessment Of Iraq War

Meanwhile, Russian deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov said Monday that a UN "political and legal assessment" of the U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq should be made.

Interfax news agency quoted Fedotov as saying, "Russia is asking for the Iraq question to be returned to the UN Security Council and for the council to give the necessary political and legal assessment of the situation in Iraq.”

Russia, along with France, Germany and China, strongly opposed the U.S. war drive, arguing that the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could be disarmed of any weapons of mass destruction through increased UN weapons inspections and diplomacy.

"The countries that have launched military action in Iraq by sidestepping the Security Council and in violation of international legal norms must also take responsibility for dealing with the inevitable urgent humanitarian consequences," Fedotov said.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Russia and other countries would ask the UN's legal department for a ruling on the U.S.-led war to oust the Baghdad regime.