Drones Strike Novokuibyshevsk Refinery and Ozon Hub in Samara Region

On Saturday morning, Aug. 22, drones struck two key locations in Russia's Samara region: the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery and a major logistics hub belonging to the e-commerce company Ozon. The Novokuibyshevsk refinery, managed by Rosneft, can produce up to 8.8 million tons of oil annually. Though the refinery has faced drone strikes before, the current attack resulted in a fire. The extent of this incident remains unclear as governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev has not yet confirmed the strike or assessed the damage.

Social media reports indicate an attack on Ozon's sizable fulfillment center in Samara, which has been operational since 2022. This 75,000-square-meter facility is central to handling incoming merchandise, storage, and shipping for Ozon's sellers. The site, part of Ozon's extensive logistics network, was further attacked on Aug.

17-18 as part of a broader campaign against the company's logistics infrastructure. This attack follows a series of strikes on Wildberries' facilities, where a warehouse in the Moscow region burned down on Aug. 17-18, causing an estimated $918 million in damages. Wildberries has been targeted by Ukraine since July 18, resulting in the destruction of around 2.395 million square meters of warehouse space, equivalent to 43% of its total capacity.

Analysts estimate the value of destroyed goods across Wildberries' compromised warehouses to be between $5.2 billion and $8.24 billion. Ukraine claims Wildberries is a legitimate military target due to the availability of dual-use items on its platform, a claim the company disputes. The widespread damage from these strikes has sparked worries about potential bankruptcy among Russian sellers who rely on these platforms' logistics systems.