Ukraine's counter-offensive slower than expected, but too soon to judge -Pentagon

FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian serviceman smokes atop of a tank, after firing towards Russian troops at a position near a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russian forces is going more slowly than some expected but it remains too early to draw conclusions about Kyiv's prospects for battlefield gains, a senior Pentagon official said on Friday.

The United States and other allies have spent months building Ukraine a so-called "mountain of steel" of weaponry and training Ukrainian forces in combined arms techniques to help Kyiv pierce formidable Russian defenses during its counter-offensive.