Ukrainian drones struck warehouses belonging to online retailer Wildberries overnight in central Russia’s Penza region and the republic of Udmurtia, local authorities and the company said Thursday.
Penza region Governor Oleg Melnichenko said 200 Wildberries employees had been evacuated and one was injured in an attack. Wildberries confirmed its logistics center in Penza was targeted, adding that it rerouted shipments to other facilities.
In the city of Sarapul, located in the republic of Udmurtia around 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from the Ukrainian border, Wildberries said it evacuated warehouse employees ahead of an anticipated drone strike that later sparked a fire at the facility.
Olga Abramova, who heads Udmurtia, said no one was reported injured and that emergency services were responding to the scene of the attack.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, said it launched terrorism probes following the drone strikes in Penza and Udmurtia.
Drone strikes have damaged nearly 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 is accusing Wildberries of helping supply the Russian military with parts for drones and other equipment. The company denies the allegations.
Meanwhile, in the southern Krasnodar region, Ukrainian drones struck two tanker ships at the Novorossiysk oil terminal, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which operates the terminal, said Thursday morning. The company said oil loading was temporarily halted.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 258 Ukrainian drones in Russia and annexed Crimea between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Separately, in Ukraine, Russian air strikes killed at least eight people on Thursday, including one in Kyiv, in attacks extending as far as the western city of Lviv, forcing neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets to secure its airspace.
Reuters contributed reporting.
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