Russia strikes Kyiv after deadly Ukrainian drone hits on warehouses

Ukrainian drones slammed into two sprawling logistics centers belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, in the early hours of Saturday, July 18, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 80 in one of the deadliest Ukrainian aerial attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure since the war began.

The Strikes

Seven night-shift workers were killed and 25 injured when drones hit a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk, in the Tambov region roughly 475 kilometers southeast of Moscow, according to regional governor Evgeniy Pervyshov. A separate strike on Wildberries' largest warehouse in Elektrostal, east of Moscow — a facility spanning more than 360,000 square meters — killed one person and injured 37 others, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said. A ninth fatality was reported in Russia's Belgorod region later on Saturday.dw+4

In total, the overnight wave of attacks wounded more than 80 people across the Moscow region alone, according to Vorobyov.youtube+1

Kyiv's Justification

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the strikes in a Telegram statement, saying the two logistics facilities — located over 500 and approximately 700 kilometers from the front line — "were used by the aggressor to ensure the supply of sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment". Ukraine's 1st Separate Center of Unmanned Systems Forces claimed responsibility for the Elektrostal strike.unn+1

The coordinated operation also hit an oil depot in the city of Noginsk in the Moscow region, where a fire broke out, and targeted vessels in the Azov and Black seas as well as occupied Crimea, Zelensky said.kyivpost+3

Broader Campaign

The warehouse strikes came amid an intensifying Ukrainian long-range drone campaign against Russian energy and logistics infrastructure. Earlier in July, Ukrainian unmanned systems damaged 159 Russian shadow fleet vessels in the Azov and Black seas between July 6 and 17, according to Ukrainian military reports. On July 15, Ukraine said it had struck 17 oil tankers and two gas carriers in the Black Sea.rigzone+1

Russia responded on Sunday with missile strikes on Kyiv that killed one person and wounded 13, according to France 24. The exchange underscored the escalating cycle of long-range attacks between the two sides more than two years into the full-scale war.france24