Ukrainian drones struck two sprawling warehouses belonging to Russia’s major online retailer Wildberries overnight, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 80 in a sweeping aerial assault that targeted multiple Russian regions, including areas just east of Moscow. Seven night shift workers were killed at a warehouse facility in the town of Kotovsk, roughly 360 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, where 25 others were wounded, according to Tambov regional governor Yevgeny Pervyshov. A second Wildberries warehouse was hit in Elektrostal, about 50 kilometers east of Moscow, while an oil depot in nearby Noginsk was also struck, sparking fires that forced the evacuation of a maternity hospital and residential building. Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said one person died of their injuries there and 61 people were wounded across the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strikes in a Telegram post on Saturday, saying Ukrainian long-range forces had hit two significant logistical facilities used by Russia to supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment. Ukraine’s General Staff added that the Noginsk fuel depot specifically supplied the Russian armed forces. The attacks fit into Kyiv’s broader strategy of pressing its relentless aerial campaign against energy infrastructure and military targets deep inside Russia, aiming to undermine Moscow’s war effort and bring the consequences of the Kremlin’s invasion home to ordinary Russians as the conflict stretches well into its fifth year.
The assault extended far beyond the Moscow region. In Vladimir, some 180 kilometers east of the capital, a drone struck a residential building and sparked a brief fire, though no casualties were reported. One person was killed and another wounded in a separate drone attack on the Belgorod region Saturday afternoon, local authorities said. Ukrainian special operations also conducted strikes against targets in the Sea of Azov and occupied territory, with Ukraine’s General Staff claiming hits on two tankers, two floating cranes, and a tugboat in the Black and Azov seas that it said were used to transport oil, fuel, and military cargo. The military also reported striking a patrol ship in Kerch and a railway bridge over the Bila River near Sabivka in the Luhansk region that serves Russian military logistics.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones overnight across 19 Russian regions as well as Crimea and surrounding waters. Both Wildberries warehouses caught fire following the strikes, according to company founder Tatyana Kim, who said the blaze in Kotovsk was eventually brought under control. Footage circulated by Russian online outlets showed flames raging at the Elektrostal facility with massive plumes of smoke towering overhead. Governor Vorobyov also reported that drone debris struck a kindergarten building, starting a fire that was quickly extinguished.
