Three Killed in Russian Drone Attacks as Kyiv Targets Logistics and Energy Sites
Ukrainian drone attacks have killed at least three people and caused widespread fires at a major Wildberries warehouse and an oil refinery in central and western Russia, as Kyiv vows to raise the cost of the war for the aggressor.
Ukraine has launched a fresh wave of drone strikes deep inside Russian territory, killing at least three people and setting ablaze a major Wildberries online retail warehouse and a Lukoil-operated oil refinery. The attacks, which took place on Wednesday, mark a significant escalation in Kyiv's campaign to take the war to the aggressor's heartland, targeting economic and logistical infrastructure that supports Russia's war machine. In the Tambov region, Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov confirmed that the fire "completely" destroyed the Wildberries facility in the city of Kotovsk, a site previously struck on July 18. One worker sustained a concussion from the blast, and a second was later reported injured, while the company said all employees were safely evacuated.
Videos and photographs shared on social media depicted a towering column of black smoke rising from the warehouse, a plume so vast it was visible in NASA satellite images. Local authorities urged residents to remain indoors for two days due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Ukraine has accused Wildberries, one of Russia's largest online retailers, of complicity in supplying the Russian military, and has recently begun targeting facilities belonging to its competitor, Ozon. The strike on the warehouse is part of a broader Ukrainian strategy to disrupt the logistics network that sustains Moscow's invasion.
The human toll of the attacks was felt across multiple regions. In the neighbouring Lipetsk region, a man and a 14-year-old were killed in a fire sparked by a falling drone, while in the southwestern Belgorod region, a woman died in another drone strike. Further east, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Ukraine claimed responsibility for striking and setting fire to a Lukoil refinery in the town of Kstovo, a facility that has been hit at least twice this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky underscored the strategic intent behind the strikes, writing on X: "The war must return to where it came from. Ukraine responds to Russian strikes, and we do so in a way that ensures the cost of the war for the aggressor inevitably rises."
While Russian authorities in Nizhny Novgorod confirmed damage to an industrial enterprise but offered no further details, the attacks represent a clear message from Kyiv. As Russia's unprovoked invasion continues to inflict devastation on Ukrainian cities and civilians, Ukraine is demonstrating its capacity to strike back at the economic and logistical arteries that fuel Moscow's brutal campaign. The World House stands with Ukraine in its right to self-defence and condemns in the strongest terms Russia's aggression, which continues to bring death and destruction to both nations.