PAIN POINTS

Putin Humiliated as Drones Set Russia’s Amazon Ablaze in Moscow

The attack came as Putin faces slipping approval ratings.

Moscow has been rocked by fresh drone strikes that set fire to the warehouses of the country’s biggest online retailer, in yet another blow to Vladimir Putin’s reassurances of imminent “victory.”

Ukraine launched one of its largest long-range drone attacks since 2022, striking a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk, in Russia’s Tambov region, and a Wildberries logistics center in Elektrostal, in the Moscow region.

Regional authorities said eight people were killed in the attack, and another 25 were injured. Some Russian business owners who sell products through Wildberries took to social media to vent about the damages incurred in the drone strike, lamenting that merchandise had been destroyed and predicting bankruptcies as a result.

Wildberries is the country’s largest online retailer and is often dubbed the “Russian Amazon.” The company confirmed the attack, with CEO Tatyana Kim calling it a “terrible night” and offering condolences to the victims’ families.

Earlier this month, the company updated its contract with sellers to say it is not financially liable for any damages or lost products caused by drone strikes. The fallout adds to rising public outrage over gasoline shortages as Ukraine’s long-range strikes disrupt the fuel supply.

Footage shared by Russian media showed towering flames and thick black smoke engulfing the warehouse in Elektrostal.

Another drone struck an oil depot in nearby Noginsk, sparking a fire that forced the evacuation of a maternity hospital and a residential building. Drone debris also ignited a blaze at a kindergarten in Elektrostal, while another strike hit a residential building in the city of Vladimir, though no injuries were reported there.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks deliberately targeted “two significant logistical facilities” in the Moscow and Tambov regions. “These facilities were used by the aggressor to supply sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment,” he said.

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The strikes came days after Zelensky ousted Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was widely credited as one of the architects of Ukraine’s highly successful long-range drone program. His dismissal sparked protests in Kyiv amid concerns the shakeup could undermine one of Ukraine’s most effective wartime strategies. But the latest barrage suggests Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign remains intact.

The attack also coincides with a sharp decline in Vladimir Putin’s public standing. A Kremlin-linked poll released this week found the Russian president’s approval rating had fallen 5 percentage points, its steepest weekly drop since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

For the second straight week, respondents were more likely to identify fuel shortages as Russia’s biggest problem than the war itself.

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