KYIV, Ukraine—Early this month, four drones attacked a Russian oil refinery almost 300 miles from Ukraine. The next day, another drone hit it. Not long after another drone bombed a fuel depot on the other side of Russia, near Belarus.
Call it the offensive before the offensive. Strike by pinpoint strike, Ukraine is taking aim at ammunition stores and caches of other supplies that Moscow’s forces need to fight, seeking to weaken them ahead of a broader ground campaign to push back the Russian invaders.
Ukrainian leaders say they are waiting for more Western weapons to arrive before launching what has been billed as a “spring offensive” that is now likely to play out over the summer, spearheaded by newly trained units equipped with Western-supplied tanks, armored fighting vehicles and artillery.
To set the stage, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on positions well inside Russian-held territory, part of what strategists call shaping operations, which are aimed at undermining the enemy and probing for gaps to exploit.