By Agency Report
Over seven people were killed and dozens more injured after a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks struck warehouse facilities in Russia overnight, while another strike triggered a fire at an oil depot in the Moscow region, Russian officials said on Saturday.
Authorities in Russia’s Tambov region said one of the attacks targeted a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, the country’s largest online retailer, in the city of Kotovsk, about 475 kilometres southeast of Moscow.
Tambov Governor Evgeniy Pervyshov disclosed that 25 people sustained injuries when drones hit the warehouse during the night.
“Seven people working the night shift died on the spot,” Pervyshov wrote on Telegram, adding that 28 drones were also shot down on approach.
“If they had achieved their goal, the number of civilian casualties could have been much higher,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv’s forces had struck two logistics facilities used by Russia to supply components for drone production and navigation equipment.
He also stated in a post on X that an oil facility had been hit during the operation.
In a separate incident, Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported that another Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal, east of Moscow, came under drone attack, leaving 24 people injured.
While reacting to the attacks, Wildberries co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Tatyana Kim described the incident as a devastating blow.
She said it had been a “terrible night” for Russia and for the company, while extending her condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.
Vorobyov also confirmed that falling drone debris sparked a fire at an oil depot in Noginsk, another town in the Moscow region.
Although he did not provide details of the extent of damage at the facility, the governor said two people were injured in Noginsk and that a nearby maternity hospital had been evacuated as a precaution.
The attacks mark another escalation in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides continuing to target strategic infrastructure deep behind the front lines.
REUTERS
