Moscow says Ukraine again targeted Wildberries warehouses

MOSCOW: Ukrainian forces launched a fresh overnight assault on a Wildberries warehouse situated in the Vladimir region, approximately 180 kilometers east of Moscow, according to company and local officials who disclosed the incident on Monday. "A blaze erupted at one of the company's logistics facilities in the Vladimir region following an attack," Wildberries declared in a statement, alongside the report that the warehouse personnel had been safely evacuated.

The Vladimir regional governor, Alexander Avdeyev, confirmed via the Russian messaging platform Max that the attack was carried out using drones, noting the presence of "damage and fire" as well as a "young man who was injured." Since mid-July, Ukraine has launched strikes against roughly 20 Wildberries sites across Russia, including areas in Crimea.

The initial strikes on the night of July 17-18 resulted in eight fatalities and nearly 90 injuries at facilities in Moscow and Tambov regions. Subsequent drone strikes by Ukraine have targeted sites near Saint Petersburg, Simferopol in Crimea, Krasnodar, Volgograd, and Samara. Wildberries, a highly favored online shopping platform in Russia, frequently referred to as "Russia's Amazon," has endured multiple warehouse attacks as part of a broader campaign of long-range Ukrainian strikes aimed at civilian infrastructure.

These attacks are part of Kyiv's strategy to compel the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, which Russia has been fighting since February 2022.