Ukrainian long-range drones struck two major Russian logistics hubs early Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring several others — the latest development in Kyiv’s campaign against the Kremlin’s supply network.
The attack drones targeted warehouses near Moscow and St. Petersburg used by Wildberries, an online retailer known as Russia’s answer to Amazon.
Regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said the strike on Chekov, about 35 miles south of Moscow, started fires in the Wildberries warehouse, an electrical substation and an administrative building.
“Firefighters and all emergency services continue to work at the scene. Unfortunately, there are fatalities and injuries,” Mr. Vorobyov posted on Telegram. “All victims are receiving the necessary medical care.”
Another suspected Ukrainian drone strike early Tuesday targeted a Wildberries warehouse near St. Petersburg, more than 400 miles northwest of Moscow. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram that Russian air defenses downed 17 Ukrainian drones in an attack that injured at least one person and started a fire at a warehouse.
The Kyiv Post said it was the newest and largest Wildberries supply hub in St. Petersburg’s Leningrad region.
Ukrainian drones have targeted at least 20 Wildberries operations across Russia since July 18, when Kyiv struck two warehouses used by the company along with an oil depot in the Moscow region.
“Intensified Ukrainian strikes against Wildberries facilities may impose additional requirements on Russia’s already-stretched air defenses and will likely increasingly inconvenience Russians who utilize the Wildberries platform,” according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War think tank.
The Kremlin has sought to shield Russians in urban areas such as Moscow and St. Petersburg from the impact of its war against Ukraine. The ISW said Anton Vaino, chief of staff to President Vladimir Putin, and deputy chief of staff Alexei Gromov reportedly either back or co-own Wildberries.
“Strikes against Wildberries facilities may also place financial pressure on elites in [Mr. Putin’s] inner circle,” the ISW said.
The air campaign has damaged some 1.8 million square yards of Wildberries warehouse space, about 22% of the company’s total amount, according to the Kyiv Post.
Wildberries was founded in 2004 by Russian entrepreneur Tatyana Kim, a former English teacher, as an online forum to resell clothing. She is the country’s first female self-made billionaire. Ukraine said Wildberries has become part of Russia’s wartime logistics network.
In addition to offering household products and cosmetics, the company also sells body armor, tactical helmets and special camouflage suits often worn by snipers.
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has defended targeting Wildberries warehouses, which have become critical nodes for Russia’s wartime supply network.
“We respond fairly to every Russian strike on our cities and communities. This war must be ended, and this is possible only by increasing pressure on the only cause of this war — Russia,” Mr. Zelenskyy posted on Telegram.
Targeting Wildberries facilities with drone strikes has raised concerns with some analysts who say the strategy could run afoul of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits attacks on civilian infrastructure.
“They would qualify as legitimate targets only if storing military supplies were their primary function, which is not the case. In ambigious situations, international law requires treating inherently civilian facilities as civilian,” economics writer Oleg Loginov wrote in an essay for Riddle Russia, a Lithuania-based think tank.
While it remains Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries is reportedly looking to shift some of its warehouse operations to neighboring Kazakhstan, where they would not be targeted by Ukrainian attack drones. But government officials said they have yet to receive any official request from the company for additional space.
“If relevant proposals are received, they will be considered — taking into account national interests, as well as in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the country’s Ministry of Trade and Integration said in a statement.
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