Multiple warehouse facilities across Russia, including sites associated with the country’s leading e-commerce company, Wildberries, were struck during a large-scale Ukrainian drone assault overnight, while fresh Russian attacks in Ukraine left several civilians dead and injured.
Russian authorities reported that an industrial complex in Chekhov, approximately 69 kilometres south of Moscow, was hit during the overnight barrage.
Officials said five people lost their lives and 10 others sustained injuries after a warehouse caught fire.
Although regional authorities did not officially identify the operator of the facility, Ukrainian media and Russian online business listings linked the site to Wildberries.
Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said the attack also damaged an electricity substation and an administrative building.
Of those injured, seven were reported to be in stable condition, while one remained critically wounded.
Wildberries acknowledged that one of its logistics centres in the St. Petersburg region had been struck, while authorities in the Tver region separately confirmed damage to another company warehouse.
Footage circulating on social media, later verified by Reuters, showed flames engulfing a large warehouse as thick black smoke billowed into the sky.
In the Samara region, local officials announced that a Wildberries distribution centre targeted on Sunday had been completely destroyed together with all merchandise stored inside, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
Kyiv has repeatedly claimed that logistics facilities operated by Wildberries are being used to support Russia’s military operations, an accusation consistently rejected by Moscow.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 320 Ukrainian drones during the latest overnight attacks.
Meanwhile, Russian bombardments across Ukraine claimed at least four lives.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said an 89-year-old woman was killed in Mykolaiv after overnight shelling, while seven others, including girls aged two and 12, were injured.
In the northeastern Sumy region, a woman and two children aged five and 10 died when a residential neighbourhood came under attack.
Four additional people were wounded.
Emergency officials also reported injuries in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, while a warehouse storing food supplies caught fire following strikes in Dnipro.
The latest escalation follows Monday’s deadly drone explosion at a beach in Russia’s Krasnodar region, where authorities said seven people were killed and 58 others were injured.
Verified footage showed a drone descending onto the crowded beachfront before exploding.
Ukrainian Telegram channels suggested electronic jamming may have caused the aircraft to lose control, while Russian witnesses claimed air defence fire was heard before the blast.
Regional officials accused Ukraine of intentionally targeting civilians, though Kyiv has not responded to the allegation.
Both Russia and Ukraine continue to deny deliberately launching attacks against civilian populations.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong