Ukraine attacked two more warehouses belonging to Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries, the company's founder Tatyana Kim said Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring several others.
Kim, Russia's wealthiest woman, said that Wildberries distribution centers in the southern Krasnodar and Stavropol regions were hit. She did not specify the number of workers who were injured.
Videos circulating on social media showed a huge plume of smoke rising over the warehouse in Krasnodar.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the strikes in southern Russia, accusing Wildberries of helping supply the Russian military with parts for drones and other equipment.
Krasnodar region Governor Veniamin Kondratiev said 10 people were wounded in an attack on a "storage facility" in the regional capital, though he did not explicitly refer to Wildberries.
He later said a woman who was injured in the attack died after being brought to the hospital.
More than 100 firefighters and a specialized helicopter were deployed to extinguish the blaze at the Wildberries warehouse in Krasnodar, authorities said.
Wildberries, often described as Russia's Amazon, is one of the country's biggest employers. Its shares are not publicly traded, but those of its rival Ozon were down 4% on the Moscow exchange on Wednesday morning amid concerns it too could become a target of Ukrainian attacks.
The strikes in southern Russia follow a Ukrainian drone attack on Wildberries warehouses in the Moscow and Tambov regions over the weekend, which killed eight workers.
Restoring the damaged facilities is expected to cost up to 35.8 billion rubles ($457 million), a bill that insurance companies are unlikely to fully cover, industry experts told Russian media this week.
The attacks on Wildberries distribution centers mark a new stage in Ukraine's campaign of deep strikes inside Russia to undermine Moscow's war effort and bring the conflict home to ordinary Russians by disrupting their lives.
"There are no words to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on all of us who are simply doing our jobs," Kim wrote in a post on Telegram on Wednesday.
In a separate attack on the city of Armavir, located in the Krasnodar region, local authorities said one person was killed by falling drone debris at an industrial enterprise. They later said an oil refinery was targeted in the attack.
Meanwhile, in the western Bryansk region, Russia's largest meat producer, Miratorg, said Wednesday morning that three of its plants were targeted in Ukrainian attacks. The company, which said a security guard was injured, described damage to one of the facilities as "significant."
Reuters contributed reporting.
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