A handout photo shows a building damaged during a Ukrainian drone attack in Elektrostal, Moscow region, Russia, Saturday. The building caught fire but was quickly extinguished. Photo by Moscow Regional Governor Andrey Vorobiev’s Telegram Channel/EPA
Ukrainian drones hit two Russian warehouses, one near Moscow, and killed at least 8 people Saturday.
President Volodymyr Zelinsky said on X that, “two major logistics facilities were hit — in the Moscow and Tambov regions, more than [311 miles] and nearly [435 miles] from the front line. The aggressor used them to supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment. An oil facility was also struck. In addition, Ukrainian mid-range strikes engaged targets in the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, and in our temporarily occupied Crimea.”
Of those killed, seven were working at a distribution center at Kotovsk in the Tambov region and another was at a similar facility in Elektrostal in the Moscow region, CNN reported. Both facilities were owned by Russian retail company Wildberries. But Ukraine alleges that the warehouses were used in the manufacturing of drones.
Wildberries has been described as the Russian version of Amazon, the BBC reported.
There were 25 people injured, and seven of them were in critical condition in Tambov, said Yevgeniy Pervyshov, governor of the region. He said 28 of the drones were shot down. At Elektrostal, 37 people were injured with eight suffering serious injuries, said Andrey Vorbiev, governor of the Moscow region.
A Ukrainian drone also hit an oil depot in the city of Noginsk, just north of Elektrostal in the Moscow region, setting a fire and wounding two people.
A nearby maternity hospital and residential building were forced to evacuate, Vorobiev said. Drone debris also hit a kindergarten building. The building caught fire, but it has been extinguished, he said.
A drone hit a residential building, which caught fire, in the city of Vladimir, about 110 miles east of Moscow, Vladimir Gov. Alexander Avdeyev said. There were no casualties.
Serhii Kuzan, chair of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told the BBC that Wildberries is a “vital component” of Russian logistics. He said Russian volunteers use the site to buy military equipment such as walkie-talkies, body armor and drone parts.
“The primary rationale for striking Wildberries’ warehouses is to disrupt Russian logistics and the supply of dual-use goods, critical electronics, sanctioned goods and the like to the Russian army and Russian arms manufacturers,” he said.
“The collateral damage from such strikes could also have a serious impact on the Russian economy, as well as a psychological effect on Russian society and, likely, on continued support for the war,” Kuzan said.
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