Ukraine hits two more Russian retailer warehouses
Ukrainian drones have again struck two logistics centers operated by Russian online retailer Wildberries, this time in southern Russia, leaving one employee dead and multiple others injured, according to the regional authorities. A separate attack on an oil depot in Armavir killed another worker and sparked a major fire.
Wildberries, often called the Russian version of Amazon, is one of the country’s most popular online retailers. Its founder Tatyana Kim confirmed on Wednesday that the company’s facilities in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk in Stavropol Region had been targeted overnight. Both complexes were evacuated and their operations suspended while emergency crews worked at the sites.
“Our priority is people,” Kim wrote. “I thank our team and our heroes who carried out the prompt evacuation. According to preliminary information there are unfortunately casualties. We will provide all the necessary assistance.”
Ten employees were injured at the retailer’s Krasnodar warehouse, according to Governor Veniamin Kondratyev. He said a young woman injured in the strike later died, adding that three other victims remain in a hospital, while the warehouse fire has been localized.
Drone debris also struck two apartment buildings in Krasnodar and two private homes in the nearby Dinskaya district, although no casualties were reported there.
In Nevinnomyssk, five people sought medical assistance following the strike on the warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The regional authorities declared a local state of emergency as firefighters and other services worked to contain the damage.
More than 16 drones targeted Armavir, where falling debris sparked an 800-square-meter fire at an oil depot, killing one employee, Kondratyev said. The blaze at the facility has since been extinguished.
The attacks followed another Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday night that set fire to the Yuzhnye Vorota industrial park in Domodedovo, Moscow Region, according to the local authorities. Four days earlier, drones hit Wildberries facilities in Elektrostal outside Moscow and Kotovsk in Tambov Region. Seven night-shift workers were killed in Kotovsk, while one person later died following the attack in Elektrostal and dozens more were injured.
Commenting on last week drone strikes on Wildberries facilities in Moscow and Tambov Regions, UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said at a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that “intentional attacks directed against civilians and civilian objects constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law,” while stressing that the incidents should be investigated.
Ukraine has sharply intensified its long-range drone campaign in recent weeks, targeting oil facilities, warehouses, residential buildings, and other infrastructure deep inside Russian territory. Moscow has described the raids as terrorist attacks on civilians and says its retaliatory strikes are directed at Ukrainian military and defense-related facilities.
