Ukraine drone strike on Wildberries warehouse near St Petersburg wounds three

At least three people were wounded after a Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at a Wildberries warehouse near Saint Petersburg early on Friday. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed the casualties and reported that air defence systems shot down 59 Ukrainian drones in the Leningrad region overnight. The incident prompted a temporary suspension of flights at Saint Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, with operations resuming around 06:00 local time after approximately 50 departures were disrupted.

This marks the fifth Wildberries facility targeted by Kyiv since July 18, a campaign that has accounted for roughly 10 percent of the company’s logistics capacity. The attack follows a strike last weekend on a logistics hub outside Moscow that killed eight night-shift workers and destroyed the facility. Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, stated that two of its warehouses in the city temporarily halted operations following the incident.

An AFP reporter observed grey smoke rising over Saint Petersburg, located more than 800 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. The city has become a focal point for Kyiv’s recent escalation of long-range drone strikes against Russian energy, military, and logistics sites. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that these e-commerce facilities supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment, a claim Moscow has denied.

Kyiv describes the campaign as “long-range sanctions,” framing the attacks as retribution for nightly Russian drone and missile barrages on Ukrainian cities. Together with rival Ozon, Wildberries sells goods and services worth the equivalent of 8.5 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product and employs over 4 million people. The strikes on infrastructure have reportedly triggered nationwide fuel shortages and dented Russia’s financial war chest, according to Ukrainian officials.

Russian defence officials reported shooting down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight across more than a dozen regions, including Crimea. While Moscow rarely concedes direct hits on targets, the scale of the interception suggests a significant aerial engagement. US President Donald Trump has reportedly expressed backing for Ukraine’s counter-attacks, describing them as an escalation that could lead to a resolution of the conflict.

The United Nations has reported a surge in civilian deaths in 2026, with June recorded as the deadliest month since mid-2022. The conflict has resulted in hundreds of thousands of soldier casualties and tens of thousands of civilian deaths since Russia launched its full-scale offensive in February 2022, though precise tolls remain undisclosed by both sides.