Ukrainian drone strikes kill at least eight in Russia

Ukrainian drones struck warehouses and an oil depot in western Russia overnight, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 60, Russian officials said Saturday, in one of the deadliest Ukrainian attacks inside Russia in years.

The strikes hit two large warehouses owned by Wildberries, Russia’s major online retailer, in the Tambov and Moscow regions, according to local officials. One facility was in Kotovsk, about 220 miles from the Ukrainian border, and the other was in Elektrostal, about 30 miles east of Moscow.

Tambov regional Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said seven night-shift employees were killed at the Wildberries logistics center in Kotovsk. Another 25 people were wounded, including one person in critical condition and six in serious condition, with most injuries caused by shrapnel, Al Jazeera reported, citing the governor’s Telegram post.

“Seven night-shift employees were killed when enemy drones struck the Wildberries logistics centre,” Pervyshov wrote.

Pervyshov said 28 drones had been intercepted in the region. “Had they reached their goal, the number of civilian casualties could have been much higher,” he added.

In the Moscow region, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said 37 people were wounded after another Wildberries warehouse was hit in Elektrostal. One of the injured later died in a hospital, CBS News reported. Images and video published by Russian online outlets showed flames at the Elektrostal site and thick smoke rising above the facility.

A separate Ukrainian drone hit an oil depot in Noginsk, just north of Elektrostal, sparking a fire, Vorobyov said. The strike prompted evacuations from a nearby maternity hospital and a residential building, according to CBS News. Al Jazeera reported, citing Vorobyov, that two people were wounded in the oil depot attack.

Drone debris also struck a kindergarten building in Elektrostal, causing a fire that was later extinguished, Vorobyov said. In Vladimir, about 110 miles east of Moscow, a Ukrainian drone hit a residential building and sparked a brief fire, but no casualties were reported, regional Governor Alexander Avdeyev said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukrainian long-range strikes hit 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,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. He said an oil facility was also hit and that Ukrainian special operations conducted strikes against targets in the Sea of Azov and in occupied territory. Al Jazeera reported that Zelenskyy also said medium-range strikes hit targets in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones overnight over 19 Russian regions, as well as Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia.

The attacks came as Ukraine continues a campaign against energy infrastructure and military-linked targets inside Russia, seeking to weaken Moscow’s ability to sustain its war, now in its fifth year.

Russia also launched a “massive” attack on port infrastructure in Odesa, killing at least one person, wounding three and damaging facilities, Odesa Governor Oleh Kipper said, according to Al Jazeera. Kipper said Russia also attacked a vessel flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda.