Wildberries Warehouse Burns in Fresh Ukrainian Drone Attack

Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged another wave of deadly long-range strikes, with both sides reporting civilian casualties as Kyiv continued targeting logistics infrastructure linked to Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries.

Russian officials said Ukrainian drone attacks killed at least nine people on Sunday. Among the targets was another Wildberries logistics facility, this time in the village of Khryastovo in Russia's Vladimir region. Images circulating on social media appeared to show a drone striking the warehouse before a large fire broke out, sending thick black smoke into the air.

Wildberries confirmed that the blaze at the logistics center was caused by a drone attack, adding that employees had been safely evacuated and that there were no preliminary reports of casualties. The company said deliveries and customer orders would be redirected through other logistics facilities while firefighters worked to contain the fire.

The latest strike came just a day after another Wildberries warehouse in Russia's Samara region was hit by drones. Ukrainian forces have reportedly targeted about a dozen Wildberries sites since July 18 in what appears to be an effort to disrupt the operations of Russia's largest online retailer, often described as the country's equivalent of Amazon.

Wildberries has drawn increased attention because its online marketplace offers products including drone components and body armor, while its banking subsidiary was sanctioned by the European Union in July over its contribution to Russia's state budget. The company and its founder, Tatiana Kim, have previously been targeted by international sanctions. Poland described Wildberries as "the largest taxpayer in the Russian Federation" when imposing restrictions in 2022.

Following the repeated attacks, Kim said the company was strengthening security measures and argued that damage caused by Ukrainian strikes legally qualifies as "force majeure." She added that losses resulting from such attacks are not subject to compensation under Russian law.

Elsewhere in Russia, three people were killed and two others injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Udmurtia region, according to acting Governor Olga Abramova. In the Belgorod region, local authorities reported three deaths and five injuries. Officials said one drone struck near a playground, killing a child and injuring two other people.

A strike on a residential building in the neighboring Saratov region killed two people in the city of Engels, Governor Roman Busargin said. He added that civilian infrastructure was damaged in both Engels and Saratov. Ukraine's military said it had carried out strikes on the Saratov oil refinery, the Engels military airbase and an oil depot in Russia's Kaluga region, claiming fires broke out at all three sites.

Russian attacks also caused casualties across Ukraine. Regional authorities reported two deaths in the Dnipropetrovsk region and one fatality each in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. In the Kharkiv region, a Russian strike destroyed a Nova Poshta postal terminal, killing one employee.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces struck infrastructure and two vessels carrying military cargo in the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, as well as another ship transporting military supplies in the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, European authorities continued tightening pressure on Russia's sanctions evasion network. An EU naval mission led by Italy intercepted the tanker Toa Payoh west of the Sicilian island of Pantelleria. Italian officials said the vessel, which is under EU sanctions and is considered part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet, was sailing from Benin to Istanbul. According to a source familiar with the operation, the tanker had switched to a Cameroon registry only a week earlier. It marked the second such EU operation in less than two weeks.