By The Associated Press
Long-range Ukrainian drones struck a major warehouse belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer, burning it to the ground, local authorities said Wednesday.
The depot in the Tambov region southeast of Moscow had been hit on July 18, killing seven people. That attack was the start of Ukraine’s aerial campaign that has delivered repeated blows to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries. The company’s size and commercial importance brought comparisons with Amazon.
Ukraine’s cutting-edge drone capabilities developed since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022 have allowed Kyiv to hit Wildberries facilities across the country in recent weeks. Ukraine says goods sold by the company include equipment and technical components that are used by the Russian military, which the company denies. The attacks have unsettled Russians living far from the front and hurt small businesses.
Ukraine also has targeted oil facilities that are the backbone of the economy in Russia, which is one of the world’s largest energy producers.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck a Lukoil refinery overnight in Kstovo, in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. The facility, which has an annual processing capacity of about 125 million barrels, was set ablaze in the attack, a General Staff statement said.
Nizhny Novgorod has been targeted repeatedly by Ukraine. Gov. Gleb Nikitin confirmed the attack and said an unspecified “industrial facility” was damaged, without elaborating.
The relentless barrages prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to decree that the state can temporarily seize control of critical infrastructure facilities if private owners don’t protect them from Ukrainian drone attacks or don’t rebuild them after the strikes. Analysts said the move aimed to compel companies to pay for their own security and bring damaged assets back into service, despite the cost.
Russia has hit Ukraine with ballistic and cruise missiles, powerful glide bombs and jet-powered drones, killing thousands of civilians. A woman and a 4-year-old were killed in a strike on a residential building in northern Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, emergency services said Wednesday.
Ukraine has launched hundreds of drones at Russia almost nightly, hoping to overwhelm air defenses. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces overnight shot down 426 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Ukraine struck Russian oil facilities, airfields, logistics and infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post Wednesday. He didn’t elaborate on the targets.
Also on Wednesday, Zelenskyy awarded Elon Musk Ukraine’s Order of Freedom, one of its highest honors, for his “outstanding personal merits” in protecting human life and freedom and strengthening ties with the United States.
Musk is one of the most influential, and contentious, private sector figures in Ukraine’s war effort. His satellite internet network Starlink has become deeply embedded in Ukraine’s military operations, with commanders and soldiers relying on satellite connectivity to communicate and coordinate operations.
Starlink doesn’t currently operate over Russian territory, but Zelenskyy wants Musk to reconsider and allow Ukrainian forces to maintain satellite connectivity for longer-range drone attacks targeting Russia’s military and economic infrastructure.
The overnight attack on the Wildberries facility in Tambov was confirmed by the company, which said the depot was evacuated. It didn’t say the extent of the damage.
Tambov Gov. Yevgeny Pervyshov said the fire destroyed the logistical center and injured two people.
Elsewhere, two people were killed and two others were wounded in Russia’s Lipetsk region, south of Moscow, after a drone fell on a house, setting it ablaze, Gov. Igor Artamonov said.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine