Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian retail giant's warehouses kill at least eight

According to Russian officials, Ukrainian drone strikes on two warehouses belonging to Wildberries — Russia's largest online retailer — killed eight people and injured 62, in attacks the BBC reported struck facilities near Tambov and in the Moscow region [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyxlm877p2o].

According to the BBC, seven deaths and 25 injuries occurred at a warehouse in Tambov, about 475 km south-east of Moscow, while one death and 37 injuries were recorded at a separate Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal in the Moscow region [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyxlm877p2o]. Al Jazeera reported the same toll, citing regional governors' statements on Telegram [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/18/ukrainian-drone-attacks-on-russia-kill-at-least-8-wound-dozens].

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes hit "major logistics facilities" used to supply "sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment," and added that Ukraine also struck targets in the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea and Russian-annexed Crimea, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyxlm877p2o] [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/18/ukrainian-drone-attacks-on-russia-kill-at-least-8-wound-dozens].

According to Al Jazeera's reporting from Moscow, the death and injury toll was "the highest" in Ukrainian attacks on Russia "in three years." A Ukrainian security analyst, Serhii Kuzan of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, told the BBC that Wildberries is a "vital component" of Russian logistics and that its site has been used by volunteers to buy military equipment including drone components [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/18/ukrainian-drone-attacks-on-russia-kill-at-least-8-wound-dozens] [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyxlm877p2o].

According to the BBC, Ukraine has intensified long-range drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, with Kyiv saying nearly 43% of Russia's oil refining capacity had been "disabled" earlier this month — a figure the BBC said it had not independently verified — and President Vladimir Putin acknowledging fuel shortages in June. Separately, a Russian attack on Odesa's port infrastructure killed at least one person, Al Jazeera reported [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyxlm877p2o] [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/18/ukrainian-drone-attacks-on-russia-kill-at-least-8-wound-dozens].

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