A Ukrainian drone attack set fire to an energy facility and a warehouse belonging to Wildberries in the southern Volgograd region, local authorities and the online retailer said Friday morning.
Volgograd region Governor Andrei Bocharov said at least five people were injured during the overnight attack but did not identify the energy facility by name.
NASA’s fire monitoring system FIRMS showed several large active fires at the site of a major Lukoil-operated oil refinery just south of the city of Volgograd.
In a statement, Wildberries confirmed that a fire broke out at one of its logistics hubs in Volgograd following the Ukrainian drone attack, but reported no casualties at the site.
Images shared on social media showed a large column of black smoke rising above the city early Friday.
In the neighboring Rostov region, Governor Yury Slyusar said a woman was injured during a separate drone strike in the town of Gukovo.
Separately, online retailer and Wildberries competitor Ozon said it was forced to evacuate one of its warehouses in the republic of Tatarstan due to an air raid alert. A video shared on social media purportedly showed employees fleeing the building as a drone crashes in the distance.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 371 Ukrainian drones across Russia and annexed Crimea between Thursday night and Friday morning.
Drone strikes have damaged around a dozen Wildberries warehouses over the past two weeks, destroying an estimated 10% of the company’s storage capacity and inflicting losses on tens of thousands of small businesses using the e-commerce platform.
Ukraine accuses Wildberries of helping supply the Russian military with parts for drones and other equipment. The company denies the allegations.
