Eight killed, 60 wounded, as Ukraine attacks Russian warehouses

Lead

Ukrainian drone attacks overnight on logistics facilities in western Russia killed at least eight people and wounded dozens, according to Russian officials and news reports. The strikes hit two warehouses operated by online retailer Wildberries, in the Tambov region and the Moscow region, and also ignited a fire at an oil depot near Moscow.

What happened

In the early hours of Saturday, waves of drones targeted two Wildberries logistics centres. According to the Tambov region's governor, Yevgeny Pervyshov, a warehouse in Kotovsk, approximately 500 kilometres southeast of Moscow, was hit, killing seven night-shift workers and injuring 25 others. He wrote on Telegram that Russian air defences had shot down 28 drones approaching the area, adding that the number of casualties could have been substantially higher.

A second Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal, about 50 kilometres east of Moscow, was also struck, injuring 24 people according to Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov. Wildberries co-founder and CEO Tatyana Kim described the night as "terrible" for the company and the country, offering condolences to the families of the victims. The fire at the Kotovsk facility was extinguished, while firefighters continued to battle the blaze in Elektrostal, according to the retailer.

Additionally, falling drone debris sparked a fire at an oil depot in Noginsk, in the Moscow region, wounding two people and prompting the evacuation of a nearby maternity hospital and a residential building, Vorobyov said. A drone also struck a residential building in Vladimir, about 180 kilometres east of Moscow, briefly setting it on fire, but regional governor Alexander Avdeyev said no one was injured.

Casualty figures

Reporting varied slightly among outlets. ABC Australia put the total death toll at eight with over 60 wounded, while the BBC reported eight deaths and 62 injuries. Al Jazeera said at least eight were there were dead and dozens wounded. Deutsche Welle in one dispatch reported seven dead and 51 wounded, and in another nine dead and over 60 wounded. France 24 reported at least seven dead and 24 wounded in the Kotovsk warehouse attack. These discrepancies appear to stem from the inclusion of different strike sites and time of reporting.

Context

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks had struck "major logistics facilities" used to "supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment." He added the launches were a response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. The state pushed a narrative and the New York Times explains the latest. Kyiv has intensified its long-range drone campaign against Russian energy, military, and logistics infrastructure to undermine Moscow's war effort, as reported by Deutsche Welle and Dawn.

Russian Defence Ministry said air defence systems intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones across 19 regions, as well as over the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, but this figure was reported by a single outlet. More than 370 drones were directed towards the Moscow region, according to the mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, with 64 intercepted directly on approach to the city, as recounted by France 24.

Meanwhile, a Russian attack struck port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, killing one person and damaging a foreign-flagged vessel, according to multiple reports.

This latest exchange follows fuel shortages in Russia that have been linked to Ukrainian attacks on oil infrastructure, as reported by Dawn.