At least five people have been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack targeting a warehouse operated by the Russian equivalent of Amazon.
Around 10 people were also injured in the attack on a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, in Chekhov, just outside Moscow, on Monday, the region’s governor, Andrei Vorobyov, said.
Two other warehouses, including another operated by Wildberries, were also targeted in Ukrainian drone strikes in the St. Petersburg and Tver regions, although there were no casualties, Reuters reported.
Kyiv has targeted multiple Wildberries sites since last month as Ukraine seeks to bring Vladimir Putin’s invasion home to the Russian people in a bid to end the conflict, which has now entered its fifth year. The strikes have wiped out billions of dollars’ worth of inventory and caused financial hardship for those who rely on the company for their businesses.
Ukraine has also accused Wildberries, an economic linchpin for Russia, of using its warehouses to supply the Russian military—an accusation Moscow denies, the BBC reported.
A Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region was also targeted in a Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday. There were no reports of injuries or deaths.
Wildberries founder and CEO Tatyana Kim described the attacks, which have been carried out since July 18, as “acts of terrorism.”
Ukraine has been launching waves of drone attacks inside Russia for months as part of a shift in its strategy against Putin’s invasion.
Previously, Ukraine’s drone strikes focused primarily on Russia’s oil refineries, which play a key role in funding the invasion, including a devastating large-scale attack on June 18 that killed at least 17 people around Moscow.
The attacks on oil refineries and other key targets have caused widespread fuel shortages across Russia, with long lines at gas stations becoming a regular occurrence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has referred to the country’s drone campaign as “long-range sanctions” against Russia.
“Thank you to all the warriors of Ukraine’s Defense Forces who are expanding our long-range capabilities and delivering precise results,” Zelensky posted on X on Sunday while sharing a highlight reel of drone attacks targeting Russian facilities.
“We are bringing the war back to where it came from.”
