Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Two in Russia, Hit Wildberries Warehouse

At least two people have been killed in a fresh wave of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting several Russian regions, with one of the strikes igniting a fire at a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. The overnight attacks are among the latest in Kyiv’s expanding campaign to hit strategic and economic targets deep inside Russian territory.

According to regional governors, the fatalities occurred in the Saratov region after drones struck residential areas in the city of Engels, where emergency crews recovered two bodies from damaged buildings. Several others were reportedly injured, while homes and civilian infrastructure sustained significant damage. Engels is home to a major Russian military airbase that has repeatedly been targeted since the start of the war.

In the Samara region, another Ukrainian drone struck a logistics warehouse operated by Wildberries in the town of Novosemeykino, sparking a large fire. Regional officials said there were no casualties at the facility, but firefighters spent hours battling the blaze and assessing the damage to stored goods and infrastructure. The attack forms part of a growing pattern of strikes on warehouses, logistics hubs and commercial facilities believed to support Russia’s wartime economy.

Russian authorities said the overnight assault was one of the largest drone attacks in recent months. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed its air defence systems intercepted or destroyed 635 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions overnight, including areas hundreds of kilometres from the front line. While such figures could not be independently verified, the scale of the reported attack highlights Ukraine’s increasing ability to conduct long-range operations deep inside Russia.

The attacks also extended to Bashkortostan, where officials reported that a drone was shot down over an industrial area in the regional capital, Ufa. Emergency services responded to a fire at the scene, though authorities did not immediately disclose the extent of the damage or whether industrial facilities had been affected.

Ukraine has not officially commented on the latest strikes. However, Kyiv has consistently maintained that attacks on military installations, oil refineries, logistics centres and transport infrastructure inside Russia are intended to weaken Moscow’s ability to sustain its military campaign. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have increasingly targeted facilities linked to fuel supplies, weapons production and commercial logistics.

The latest exchange comes as the war enters another intense phase, with both sides continuing to launch large-scale aerial attacks. Russia has maintained its missile and drone bombardment of Ukrainian cities, while Ukraine has stepped up its long-range drone campaign against strategic targets inside Russian territory, underscoring the widening scope of the conflict and the growing importance of drone warfare.