Drones Reportedly Strike Wildberries Hubs in Volgograd and Tatarstan as Kyiv Chokes Russia’s ‘Wartime Amazon’

An overnight drone attack damaged a logistics facility belonging to Russian online retail giant Wildberries in Volgograd, while smoke was later reported above another of the company’s complexes in Russia’s Tatarstan region. Wildberries confirmed that its Volgograd facility had been damaged and that a fire had broken out at the site. The company said no employees were injured.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Logistics chains have been reorganized, and the receipt of deliveries and dispatch of orders are being carried out at other facilities,” Wildberries said, adding that emergency crews were working at the scene. Volgograd lies more than 350 kilometers from Ukraine’s border. Videos published by Russian monitoring channels showed large fires and thick smoke rising over the city. Ukrainian and open-source monitoring accounts identified the apparent targets as the Wildberries distribution center and the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka refinery, one of Russia’s largest oil-processing facilities. The full extent of the damage remained unclear. Smoke reported over Wildberries complex in Tatarstan Hours later, residents of Kazan and surrounding areas in Tatarstan reported explosions during another suspected drone attack. The independent Russian project ASTRA analyzed eyewitness footage and said smoke appeared to be rising from the Wildberries logistics complex in an industrial area of Zelenodolsk. The footage showed smoke above the building, although neither Wildberries nor regional authorities had confirmed that the complex was struck at the time of publication. Other Topics of Interest Russian Boxers Cleared to Compete Under National Flag and Anthem World Boxing has lifted restrictions on Russian athletes, allowing them to compete internationally under Russia’s flag and anthem. Residents of Nizhnekamsk, another major industrial center in Tatarstan, reported more than 30 explosions. Videos circulating online also showed intense flames from an industrial flare near the city’s oil-refining zone. The TANECO and TAIF-NK refineries are both located in the area. It was not immediately clear whether either facility had sustained new damage. Tatarstan authorities declared a drone threat across a wide section of the region, including Kazan, Zelenodolsk, Nizhnekamsk, Almetyevsk, Bugulma, Yelabuga and Naberezhnye Chelny. Russian aviation authorities temporarily restricted arrivals and departures at the airports serving Kazan, Nizhnekamsk and Bugulma because of the drone threat. Campaign reaches nearly a dozen Wildberries sites The Volgograd strike follows a series of Ukrainian attacks on Wildberries warehouses that began on July 18. Ukrainian drones struck additional facilities in Penza and Sarapul this week, sparking fires at both sites. One person was injured and around 200 employees were evacuated from the Penza warehouse, while workers in Sarapul were evacuated before the strike and no casualties were reported. Wildberries said deliveries from the damaged facilities were being redirected through other parts of its logistics network. Around a dozen Wildberries locations have now reportedly been attacked, or forced to halt operations since the campaign began. Drone strikes had already damaged at least seven warehouses and eliminated around 10% of the company’s storage capacity by July 29, according to Wildberries and Russian regional authorities cited by Reuters. The strikes have disrupted deliveries and inflicted losses on tens of thousands of small businesses that store and sell their products through the platform. Wildberries said more than 88,000 sellers had begun receiving initial compensation for damaged goods. However, its business terms classify drone attacks as force majeure circumstances under which the company says it is exempt from liability. The Kremlin has acknowledged the growing economic disruption and said the Russian government is monitoring the situation, although no decision on direct state assistance had been announced. Kyiv targets a network supporting Russia’s war Ukraine says Wildberries facilities are embedded in Russia’s wartime logistics network, extending far beyond the country’s civilian consumer economy. President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the targeted warehouses as logistics hubs involved in storing or distributing drone components, navigation equipment and other goods supporting Russia’s military. Tactical equipment, communications devices, body armor and other dual-use products are openly sold through Russian online marketplaces and purchased by military units and volunteer organizations supporting Russia’s invasion. Destroying centralized storage and sorting centers can therefore disrupt both ordinary commercial deliveries and the informal procurement networks used to move equipment toward Russian forces. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.