More than 200 firefighters were deployed on Monday to contain a massive fire at a Wildberries warehouse in Russia’s Vladimir region following a Ukrainian drone attack, as Kyiv stepped up its campaign against the country’s largest online retailer.
Regional Governor Alexander Avdeyev said 203 firefighters and 67 firefighting vehicles were mobilised to tackle the blaze, which engulfed about 100,000 square metres of the warehouse an area roughly equivalent to 14 football pitches.
Wildberries confirmed the attack, saying all employees were safely evacuated and that deliveries and shipments had been redirected to other distribution centres to minimise disruption.
The latest strike is part of a series of Ukrainian attacks targeting the company’s facilities since July 18.
Wildberries founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tatyana Kim, described the attacks as “acts of terrorism.”
Often referred to as Russia’s equivalent of Amazon, Wildberries plays a key role in the country’s consumer and e-commerce sector.
Ukrainian authorities have increasingly targeted the company’s logistics infrastructure in an apparent effort to disrupt commercial operations inside Russia.
Kim said the repeated attacks had caused significant losses to businesses operating across 10 countries, adding that the company was working closely with the Russian government to reduce the impact on vendors and customers.
Governor Avdeyev said three people were injured in the latest attack.
A young man suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital, while another sustained an injured finger. A woman also suffered minor injuries to one of her legs.
The attack comes as Ukraine continues to intensify long-range drone strikes on Russian territory, targeting military, industrial and logistics facilities far from the frontline in an effort to weaken Russia’s war capabilities.
