Ukraine Hits Three More Russian Warehouses, Five Killed in Overnight Attacks

Ukraine struck three more warehouses belonging to Wildberries, the e-commerce giant often described as Russia's answer to Amazon, in overnight drone attacks that killed five people and injured 10 in the Moscow region.

Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said a drone attack on the city of Chekhov set a warehouse alight and damaged an electrical substation and another building.

"However, in the Moscow region, a drone attack on the city of Chekhov set another warehouse alight and damaged an electrical substation and another building, killing five people and injuring 10," he said. He did not say which company the site belonged to, nor specify exactly where the deaths occurred.

Wildberries said fire crews were containing a blaze after the latest attack struck one of its warehouses near St Petersburg. "In the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, drones damaged another Wildberries facility," local authorities said. No casualties were reported in either of those strikes.

The company has become a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks in recent weeks, part of what Kyiv says is a campaign to bring the war home to ordinary Russians. Ukraine has expanded its long-range drone strategy, targeting close to 20 Wildberries sites since July 18.

The strikes have inflicted significant damage on a company that has become a driving force in Russia's retail sector, processing millions of orders a day through vast warehouses across the country.

All stock at a large Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region was destroyed after a strike on Sunday sparked a fire that gutted the facility, state news agency TASS quoted regional official Denis Gurkov as saying on Tuesday. "Of its 180,000 sq m, 160,000 burned down," he said — roughly equivalent to 22 soccer pitches.

On Monday, hundreds of firefighters worked to put out a 100,000-sq m fire at a Wildberries warehouse in the Vladimir region. "Only part of its stock was saved," the company said, without giving further details.

Wildberries has not given an estimate of financial losses so far. Founder and chief executive Tatyana Kim has described the attacks as "acts of terrorism".

Kazakhstan's trade minister said on Tuesday the company, which also operates in Central Asia and the Caucasus, is building 260,000 sq m of warehouse capacity in the neighbouring country.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has repeatedly struck Ukrainian logistics hubs and other infrastructure.