A logistics hub belonging to Russian online retail giant Wildberries burns at a industrial park southeast of St. Petersburg after being struck by Ukrainian drones. Photo by Stringer/EPA
Russian online retail giant Wildberries came under attack overnight by Ukrainian forces for the fifth time in six days after drone strikes on logistics facilities of the firm in and around St. Petersburg.
Wildberries warehouses at Utkina Zavod logistics park in Vsevolozhsk District, just beyond the St. Petersburg city limits, and Shushary, 9 miles south of downtown, were set ablaze after being hit, together with other “civilian infrastructure” along the main highway linking the city with Moscow.
Major fires were reported at both Wildberries facilities.
Leningrad provincial head, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko, said three people were hospitalized after being injured but provided no further details.
Wildberries said employees at both sites were evacuated safely and that preliminary information indicated no one had been hurt. The firm said it had suspended operations at the distribution centers.
A Wildberries logistics hub in Tver, 100 miles northwest of Moscow, was also hit and a sorting center in Simferopol in occupied Crimea was evacuated.
Footage circulating online of the Wildberries facility in Simferopol showed the moment of impact and a large fire erupting.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes were part of a major airborne assault by Ukraine involving many hundreds of drones that targeted 14 other regions, as well as Crimea and the Black and Asov seas.
The ministry said air defenses downed or otherwise intercepted 571 of the drones. It said the attack was one of the largest this year.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly struck Wildberries logistics hubs across western and southern Russia over recent days, beginning with deadly strikes on warehouse complexes in the Tambov and Moscow regions on Saturday that killed eight employees and injured more than 60.
Kyiv alleges the company forms part of the Russian military’s supply chain, providing it with dual-use products such as two-way radios, body armor and components for drones.
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