Ukrainian drones hit Wildberries warehouse near St. Petersburg

Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, near Saint Petersburg early Friday, triggering a fire and wounding at least three people, as Kyiv intensified its long-range strikes against Russian logistics infrastructure.rfi+1

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 571 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight across more than a dozen regions, including the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, as well as Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, the Moscow region, Krasnodar Territory, and occupied Crimea.caliber+1

A Week of Warehouse Strikes

Friday's attack marks the third wave of strikes against Wildberries facilities in just over a week. The campaign began on July 17-18, when Ukrainian drones struck two Wildberries warehouses — one in Kotovsk in the Tambov region and another in Elektrostal near Moscow — killing eight people and wounding more than 60, according to Reuters. A second round on July 22 hit warehouses in Krasnodar and Stavropol, killing one person and injuring 15 others.reuters+2

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed and defended the strikes, saying the Wildberries facilities serve as logistics hubs that supply the Russian military with "sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment." The Kremlin has denied the allegation.youtube+2

Economic Reverberations

Wildberries, often described as "Russia's Amazon," processed merchandise worth nearly 3 percent of Russia's GDP last year, according to Bloomberg. The repeated strikes have jolted Russia's retail sector, forcing companies to rethink logistics networks and stoking fears of higher inflation.bloomberg

The escalation reflects Ukraine's broader strategy of extending its drone campaign beyond traditional energy and military targets to strike economic infrastructure deep inside Russia. Kyiv has framed the attacks as justified retribution for Moscow's nightly drone and missile barrages on Ukrainian cities.rfi

Intensifying Aerial War

Both sides reported massive overnight aerial exchanges on Friday. Ukraine said Russia launched five Kh-59/69 guided missiles and 180 strike drones, of which Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed four missiles and 160 drones. The scale of the attacks — with Russia claiming to have downed 571 drones in a single night — underscores the accelerating tempo of the drone war well into its fifth year.caliber