Governor: Two drones attack fuel, energy facilities in Russia's Smolensk region

The acting governor of the Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, reported on June 2 about a drone attack on the territory of the Smolensk district.

"Today around 3 am in the village of Peresna of Pochinkovsky district and in the village of Divasy of Smolensk district two long-range drones attacked fuel and energy facilities. There were no casualties or injuries. There are no critical damages and fires either," the head of the region wrote in his Telegram channel on June 2, Interfax reports.

At the moment, the operational services are eliminating the consequences, he added.

Moreover, Ukraine is preparing the ground for its future operations. For many weeks, strikes on Russian logistical facilities have been increasing, especially in areas far from the front, according to Le Monde.

Every day and night, fuel and ammunition depots, railway hubs, telecommunications infrastructures, command posts and soldiers' quarters are targeted by shells, rockets, and drones in territories occupied by Russia but also on Russian soil.

This artillery campaign, which is called "shaping" in military jargon, is a prerequisite to any large-scale offensive. Its primary objective is to weaken the enemy by destroying its support systems or forcing it to retreat far from the front.

In this respect, the Russian military doctrine, which favours railroads over roads to supply troops, constitutes an advantage for the Ukrainians. "A railway is easier to destroy than a road and harder to repair," a military source said.

To carry out this "shaping," the Ukrainians have been using Western equipment such as HIMARS rocket launchers that can reach targets up to 70 kilometres away or even 150 kilometres with GLSDB-guided bombs. Better still, the army just received British air-to-ground Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of over 250 kilometres.

The first uses of these projectiles have been noticed, notably in Luhansk, in the Donbas, and on an air base in Berdiansk, near Mariupol.

Sabotage operations by Ukrainian partisans infiltrating occupied territories or on Russian soil are also increasing.