 Ukraine holding back its Western tanks in the offensive. Kiev is holding back its Western-made tanks and avoiding major attacks on Russian positions after its initial failure to achieve significant battlefield successes. During this month's counter-offensive, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Ukrainian troops haven't yet approached the defenses constructed by Russia according to the report. After encountering stiff resistance in prior weeks, Ukrainian commanders have largely held off sending large infantry formations and Western tanks to assault Russian positions. The media outlet described the pause as giving the Ukrainians time to map Russian minefields and soften the defenses with long-range attacks. The article focused on the efforts of a Ukrainian drone reconnaissance unit as witnessed by a correspondent. The team's commander, a sergeant named Grigori Volkov, said his side was kind of shocked by the scale of Russian defenses which have multiple layers and were well prepared to fend off storming forces. Now the Ukrainians are moving slowly and trying to conserve their limited supplies of ammunition. It's a very long process, watching, analyzing over and over. Volkov told the newspaper, the enemy is also learning, changing places, hiding underground more. The time lost in convincing our partners to provide the necessary weapons is reflected in the specific Russian fortifications built during this period, the deeply dug defense lines and the systems of minefields. Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to President Vladimir Zelensky declared last week.