Wildberries sites hit again as officials report injuries in Russia
Wildberries said it evacuated logistics hubs in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk after drone attacks, with regional officials reporting eight injuries.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Drone attacks struck warehouse sites linked to Wildberries in southern Russia on Wednesday, injuring eight people, according to the company and regional officials. The strikes underscored Ukraine’s expanding use of long-range drones against targets it says support Russia’s war effort.
Wildberries Chief Executive Tatiana Kim said the retailer evacuated logistics centres in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk after the attacks. Wildberries is Russia’s largest online retailer, according to Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters.
Vladimir Vladimirov, governor of Stavropol Krai, said on Russia’s state-run Max platform that a warehouse complex on the edge of Nevinnomyssk caught fire after a drone attack. He said five people received medical care.
The Krasnodar Krai operational headquarters later said three more people were wounded after drone debris fell on a warehouse in Krasnodar. Images obtained from social media video showed smoke rising from a Wildberries warehouse fire in Krasnodar, according to Reuters.
Al Jazeera reported that Ukraine had struck two major Wildberries warehouses on Saturday, killing eight night-shift workers and causing fires. Local authorities in Armavir said Wednesday that one worker was killed when drone debris fell on a site there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had hit targets in Russia. He said the army had struck “important facilities in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions.”
Zelenskyy said the targets included logistics centres involved in supplying the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment and other supplies, as well as an oil depot. He also said a tanker and four cargo ships belonging to what he called Russia’s “shadow fleet” were hit in the Black Sea and Azov Sea areas.
Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said Wednesday that Ukrainian drones had struck 13 Russian vessels in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov over the previous 48 hours.
Al Jazeera’s Audrey Macalpine, reporting from Ukraine, said Kyiv describes the attacks as part of “40-day influence operations” intended to push Russia toward negotiations through strikes deep inside Russia and on the Black Sea.
Oleksandr Syrskii, Ukraine’s outgoing commander-in-chief, said Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had retaken 700 square kilometres, or 270 square miles, of territory this year. Al Jazeera reported that Russia had not commented on the Ukrainian attacks on its territory.
In Ukraine, Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said Russian attacks had hit 15 settlements over the previous 24 hours. He said three people were killed and 11 were injured, including two children.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.